Minnesota corrections officer harasses Black protesters, wife yells N-word in video
The state’s Department of Corrections says Sgt. Paul Gorder has been put on investigative leave while they conduct a review.
A video of a Minnesota Department of Corrections official has surfaced, capturing the man harassing people peacefully protesting police violence on Sunday.
In the video, Sgt. Paul Gorder is seen wearing American flag shorts and shouting at the protesters. “F**k you, f**kers!” Gorder yells. A woman standing next to him — who has since been identified as Kimberly Beer, his wife — yells, “All you fu**ing n****rs, get out of here!”
The Minnesota Department of Corrections issued a statement saying Gorder has been put on investigative leave while the DOC’s Office of Professional Accountability conducts a review.
Gorder has worked for the Department of Corrections for 30 years.
Minnesota’s Commissioner of Corrections called Gorder’s action “deeply disturbing.”
“At a time when we are focused on growing trust in law enforcement and the broader criminal justice system,” Commissioner Paul Schnell wrote in a statement, “the conduct and comments by the DOC sergeant and his wife to the group of mostly African American peaceful protestors are troubling.”
The demonstration was taking place outside of the home of Washington County Attorney Pete Orput. Gorder and Beer are his neighbors.
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“Today in #Stillwater, MN, Washington County Attorney Pete Orput’s racist neighbors called us f’ing n*ggers during a peaceful demonstration demanding justice for #DaunteWright & murder charges against Kim Potter. The man in the video is a Paul Gorder, a 30-year vet of the MN DOC,” civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong wrote on Twitter.
“Even while off-duty, we expect that employees conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the values of the agency,” Schnell asserted in his statement. “The Department of Corrections is actively focused on promoting racial equity and reducing racial disparities in the state’s correctional system. The conduct and comments by this sergeant make the work of growing trust that much more difficult.”
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