New St. Cloud human rights office to focus on discrimination

Associated Press

Last update: January 21, 2008 - 11:50 AM

ST. PAUL -

St. Cloud is getting a new office with the power to investigate discrimination cases.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced the city's new human rights office on Monday morning at a Martin Luther King Junior Day celebration at St. Cloud City Hall.

More than a dozen bias-motivated incidents have been reported at St. Cloud State University since November, including swastikas and a report of white men spitting at a female student of color. Police, the university and the local FBI have been investigating.

The new human rights office will have the power to enforce Minnesota's human rights law and reach out to the public. Four Minnesota cities now have the power to investigate human rights violations, including Duluth, Minneapolis and St. Paul.