Minnesota School Board Member Draws Criticism for Cemetery Remarks Amid Dog Park Dispute

A Minnesota school board member has drawn significant criticism for a social media post in which she suggested allowing dogs to relieve themselves in Christian cemeteries. The post stated that individuals should "leave indigenous land sacred and piss on the White corpses" instead.

Chauntyll Allen, who serves as a clerk for the St. Paul Public Schools Board of Education, made these comments during a heated discussion regarding the future of Minneapolis' Minnehaha Off-Leash Dog Park. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board recently voted 8-1 to close the park by the end of the current year.

Controversial Social Media Post

In a post dated June 21 on the "We Love Our Dog Park: Minnehaha" Facebook page, Allen wrote, "I don’t get why we don’t just make dog parks at White Christian cemeteries if White Christians are ok with it? This is a simple fix. Leave the indigenous land sacred and piss on the White corpses."

The decision to close the dog park stemmed from concerns that its location is part of the Mni Owe Sni (Coldwater Spring) Traditional Cultural Place. This site is considered sacred by Dakota tribes and is believed to contain unmarked graves from the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War.

Prior Legal Challenges and Activism

Beyond the recent social media controversy, Allen is currently facing federal felony charges. These charges are connected to a January 18 incident involving the invasion of Cities Church in St. Paul. She was a participant in an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest where she and others entered the church during a service.

Allen, who also leads Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, spoke about the church incident in an interview in January. She asserted that ICE was "terrorizing our women and our children" and described the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer as "the most graphic murder."

"And then we have the head of this whole operation standing in a pulpit preaching to a congregation every Sunday morning," Allen said, referring to pastor David Easterwood and his perceived connections to ICE. "And that was really just not OK for us."

Regarding the decision to enter the church, Allen defended the action, stating, "I believe that’s what needed to be done to get the message across." She drew a parallel to her own religious upbringing, adding, "I mean my mother’s a pastor and so I grew up in Christianity, I grew up in the church. And one of the things I remember about Jesus Christ himself is that when things weren’t going right in the church, he went in and he flipped tables."