Now Mr. Thompson is facing calls to clear up his residency quagmire and apologize to police after the release of body-camera footage from the stop that showed nothing out of the ordinary, even as the Democratic lawmaker goes on trial this week on a 2019 obstruction charge.
“Representative Thompson’s false allegation of racism to deflect from his own egregious behavior is unconscionable and completely unjustifiable,” said St. Paul Police Federation President Mark Ross in a statement. “His audacious claims against a St. Paul police officer are simply nonsense.”
In a lengthy statement to the Pioneer Press, Mr. Thompson did not apologize but referred to Philando Castile, the 32-year-old Black man shot and killed in a 2016 traffic stop in St. Anthony, Minnesota, that resulted in a $3 million settlement with the Castile family.