Trump among those to protest Minnesota city council votes to remove Pledge of Allegiance from sessions

'We clearly fumbled by not anticipating the desire of our residents to be in conversation about this,' says one councilwoman

Picture: (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A city council in Minnesota that unanimously voted to stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance before their meetings may look to reconsider their decision after a backlash - with Donald Trump backing those fighting to keep the pledge.

The city council in St Louis Park, a city of 49,000, voted in June to amend procedure rules so that the pledge would no longer be said before each meeting in order to serve a “more diverse community”.

However, having seen a segment on the change on cable new show Fox and Friends, Mr Trump made clear he would be “fighting” with those looking to reverse it.

“Outrage is growing in the Great State of Minnesota where our Patriots are now having to fight for the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance,” he tweeted on Tuesday. “I will be fighting with you!”

Before the unanimous vote last month, council member Tim Brausen said that removing the pledge before sessions would ”create a more welcoming environment”.

Another council member, Anne Mavity, who served as a sponsor for the rule change, said it was not necessary to begin each session with the pledge, especially for non-citizens.

“Not everyone who does business with the city or has a conversation is a citizen,” she said. “They certainly don’t need to come into city council chambers and pledge their allegiance to our country in order to tell us what their input is about a sidewalk in front of their home.”

The region is home to the largest Somali diaspora in the US. The Minnesota Demographer’s Office gave an estimate that there are between 40,200 and 52,400 Somalis living in the state in 2016.

However, with some residents calling the move “unpatriotic” the council revisited the issue in a session on Monday, where they were met by about 100 protesters.

While the session did not intend to include public input, many protestors, some dressed in pro-Trump gear, interrupted the session. Some recited the Pledge of Allegiance as council members spoke, Fox News reports.

One protestor, a veteran named Jack Dunn, said: “A lot of our culture is based on traditions. The Pledge of Allegiance, being patriots, is a part of that.”

Another protester named Michele Even said: “It’s a free country. If you want to say it, you can say it. If you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to say it, but you shouldn’t have the right to take that choice away from me.”

Ms Mavity said: “We clearly fumbled by not anticipating the desire of our St. Louis Park residents to be in conversation about this.”

Some council members are in support of reinstating the pledge, but mayor Jake Spano said the council plans to discuss what residents have to say before they decide whether or not to reinstate the pledge.

The issue will be discussed again in late July.