Minneapolis Park Board leaders remain silent on video of woman being held at gunpoint by officer
Body camera footage showing a Minneapolis Park Police officer holding a woman at gunpoint is garnering a strong reaction from police reform advocates and Second Amendment supporters.
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But one group that’s not commenting on the video is the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.
5 INVESTIGATES reached out to all nine elected Park Board commissioners after airing a story detailing Jenice Hodge’s experience during a routine traffic stop in July 2019.
No one would talk. Commissioner Meg Forney, who is president of the board, responded “we don’t comment on personnel matters.”
Hodge, who is Black, was pulled over for driving with her phone in her hand and for not wearing her seatbelt. Within 60 seconds, Officer Calvin Pham pulled his gun and ordered her out of the car.
In his police report, Pham wrote that he saw a card “…that appeared to be a MN PERMIT TO CARRY…” in Hodge’s wallet and that he believed that she may have had a gun.
Hodge says she does hold a legal permit to carry card but did not have her gun with her that day.
Late last year, commissioners on the Park Board voted to approve a six-figure settlement after Hodge filed a civil rights lawsuit against the department and Officer Pham. A month later, Pham resigned.
In November’s election, the makeup of the Park Board changed significantly. Two members were re-elected, including now-board president Forney.
The Park Police chief and Park Board superintendent declined to comment on the story prior to its airing, saying the “settlement speaks for itself.”