Saint Paul Police Federation President Mark Ross is speaking out in support of the Saint Paul police officer who pulled over Minnesota State Representative John Thompson.
"Our cop acted as a professional, was respectful, and courteous," Ross said. "We got what we expected from John Thompson which is dishonesty. He was hateful and obnoxious. I think that's pretty much par for the course."
Rep. Thompson, a Black man, was pulled over by police in St. Paul on July 4 and accused the officer of racially profiling him. The police department said the reason for the stop was because Thompson's car did not have a front license plate.
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Ross told WCCO Radio's Adam Carter the Morning News on Wednesday that he credits the officer for deescalating the situation amidst Thompson's accusations.
"There's someone who is trying to escalate the situation and you have one of our officers who deescalates it and that goes on all day, everyday," Ross added. "To be honest, I think one of the biggest failures on behalf of law enforcement, to no one's fault, is really selling this to the public and showing how often and well we deescalate."
When asked about why he viewed Thompson's actions as hateful, Ross said there was no proof Thompson was pulled over because of the color of his skin.
"When I am talking about the hatefulness, for him to accuse one of our officers of pulling him over for the color of his skin, I think that is hateful and I think it is inflammatory."
Ross said if Thompson had an issue with the traffic top and interaction that he could have easily taken it through the proper channels including the internal affairs department and the criminal justice system.
"[John Thompson] has a history of acting this way and to be honest, it does not do anybody any good. In fact, it detracts from what we're trying to do and it hurts us," Ross said. "It promotes non-compliancy. All we ask is for people to be compliant. If they disagree with that then they can deal with that on the backside.