African-American leader: St. Paul board members who voted to remove SROs will have ‘blood’ on hands if there’s school violence

The president of the African American Leadership Council told St. Paul school board members who voted to remove school resource officers from the schools they will have “blood” on their hands if a child or teacher is hurt or killed.

Tyrone Terrill, who wrote a Sunday night email to board members in partnership with the St. Paul Black Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, said the board was acting “on emotions and not facts.”

The school board voted 5-1 last Tuesday to no longer pay the city of St. Paul to post police officers in seven high schools and to instead develop a new safety plan.

St. Paul school board members previously debated whether officers belong in the schools and the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody sparked the discussion again.