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(This post has been updated at 5:09 with a KSTP update, which is posted at the bottom of this page)

From the "Department of Are You Serious?" comes this

, which alleges that Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges knows a gang sign.

, in a barrage of heavy criticism of the 'story.' "They're pointing to each other. The man in the photo is doing good by encouraging people to participate in our democratic process. He did wrong in the past, served his time, is trying to do right now and has to deal with this BS??? We've all made mistakes before, and we all deserve a second chance. Shame on KSTP for trying to take his second chance away from him. Terrible job, KSTP - your credibility has taken a hit."

Hodges and  Navell Gordon were actually door-knocking in a get-out-the-vote effort for 

. Its video shows the real story of people working for good, and exposes KSTP's intention to gin up a story with racist overtones.

"I made some mistakes in life. I can't vote, I'm not ashamed to say that," Gordon says in the video. "I'm working on fixing that right now so I can be able to vote for my next president, do you understand?"

That has the aroma of a pretty good story.

Instead, reporter Jay Kolls saw it this way:

https://twitter.com/JayKollsKSTP/status/530567839246475264

Which should surprise Minneapolis police chief Janeé Harteau who  was with them. Harteau, it's fair to say, probably knows the difference between a point and a gang sign.

The station is getting condemned on social media, which has created the 

https://twitter.com/thanland/status/530730797482143744

https://twitter.com/sacourtreporter/status/530705815230238720

https://twitter.com/davidmiklethun/status/530705478637350914

https://twitter.com/Khaaliss2/status/530701899792515074

https://twitter.com/sallyjos/status/530574187954331648

https://twitter.com/panopticon13/status/530717614826618880

For his part, reporter Kolls is unrepentant:

https://twitter.com/JayKollsKSTP/status/530584175481716736

 - On its website, KSTP has now posted this statement:

That's some serious "doubling down," and highly questionable ethics since the decision to blur the gentleman's face and not reveal anything about the organization is what denied the context, thus revealing the scantilly clad nature of the KSTP story in the first place.

What KSTP had was a picture without context and some cops who had a picture without context, and that was enough for KSTP to create the story.

That's the problem that people have been trying to point out today, KSTP.

 with a justification that everyone has missed the point.

So the sign was a message to gangs? If so, it's a message that  was spread thanks to the Minneapolis police union and KSTP spreading it.

That's less plausible than another possibility: The police union is paying the mayor back for her claim in a letter to Minneapolis residents last month that there are some bad apples in the Minneapolis police department, a claim

 from one of the people quoted in the KSTP story.

Explaining #pointergate: The missing context 

NewsCut

Bob Collins

Author

From the Department of Are You Serious comes this from KSTP, which alleges that Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges knows a gang sign.

A KSTP news story suggesting that Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges flashed a gang symbol in a photo with a member of the non-profit organization Neighborhoods Organizing for Change has gone viral - #pointergate is trending nationally.

‘Gang sign’ story backfires on KSTP

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