Ramsey County Sheriff's Comment Draws Backlash

<p>Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher is facing criticism for a comment he made to a colleague on a livestream that appeared to reference sundown towns. Fletcher says the comment was not racially motivated, despite the fact that sundown town practices were inherently motivated by racism. <br>--<br>Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher is facing backlash for a comment he made to a colleague about how police used to be able to treat suspected criminals.</p><p><br></p><p>“100 years ago, though, we woulda just told them, ‘OK, son, you got ’til sundown to get outta of town,” Fletcher said during one of his regular livestream broadcasts called “Live on Patrol.” The comment drew swift rebuke from local politicians and on social media after the Twitter account Whittier Cop Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/whittcopwatch/status/1412579637633355776?s=20">posted a clip from the broadcast. </a></p><p><br></p><p>Critics connected his words with the history of “sundown towns” –  places where residents enforced segregation by preventing people of color from living there or even entering after a certain time. Dr. Christopher Lehman, a professor of Ethnic Studies at St. Cloud State University, says these sundown policies could be a local law or an unwritten understanding. </p><p><br></p><p>“There are some sundown towns in which it was perfectly fine for people who are not considered white, to go into the town in the morning and work a nine to five job. But then as soon as it was five o'clock, then those same employees had about an hour to leave the town, or else they could suffer some severe repercussions,” Lehman said. </p><p><br></p><p>“There would be people in town who were residents of the town who would harass, at best, any people of color who were still in the town when they weren't supposed to be. And at worst, there'll be violence, perhaps even death.”</p><p><br></p><p>Sundown towns were prevalent in the Midwest. Some towns, like <a href="https://www.uuworld.org/articles/was-your-town-sundown-town">Manitowoc Wiscon