MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A local news report accusing Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges of flashing a "gang sign" has set off a furor on social media.

The original KSTP report by Jay Kolls includes a photo of the mayor with her arm around a young black man at a get-out-the-vote event last week, gesturing to the camera. What Kolls called a "gang sign," the mayor's office, numerous commenters on his column and social media said they were just pointing at one another.


The man was identified in other news reports as Navell Gordon.

Kolls twice describes Gordon as a convicted felon, and quotes a mayor's office spokesperson as describing the young man as "well regarded by the nonprofit that employs him."

He also quoted a retired police officer criticizing Hodges, accusing her of putting "police officers at risk."

Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau, however, was at the event and was photographed with Gordon and Hodges.

Kolls did not mention that Gordon works for Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, a nonprofit whose mission is to improve the lives of low- and moderate-income Minnesotans through community organizing. The get-out-the-vote event, at which the now infamous photograph of Gordon and the mayor was taken, was organized by NOC.

In a Star Tribune column reacting to the KSTP story, University of St. Thomas Law School professor Nekima Levy-Pounds described meeting Gordon, and his efforts to turn his life around.

"I learned that he has worked hard to reintegrate back into the community by being employed as a canvasser at Neighborhoods Organizing for Change for the past two years," she wrote. "This young man personally knocked on thousands of doors during the election season to help get out the vote and educate community residents about the impacts of felon disenfranchisement in Minnesota."

The KSTP story, published at 4 p.m. CST on Thursday, and aired on television at 10 p.m., was immediately condemned online.

In the ensuing 12 hours, #pointergate has shot to the top 10 trends on Twitter, as many users condemned KSTP's interpretation of the gesture and mocked it with other pictures of people "making gang signs."

Snoop Dogg flashes gang signs with a convicted felon. #pointergate pic.twitter.com/wQ1BBuCrAe — Ken Paulman (@kenpaulman) November 7, 2014

Despite the negative reaction, KSTP stood by their story Friday.

"Law enforcement sources alerted KSTP-TV to a photo they believed could jeopardize public safety and put others at risk, especially given the recent increase in gang violence," the station said in a statement Friday.

"Multiple sources from law enforcement agencies told 5 Eyewitness News the photo had the potential for undermining the work they are doing in the streets," the statement continued. "5 Eyewitness News blurred the individual's face and did not name the group he was working for because police called into question only the judgment of Mayor Betsy Hodges."