A St. Paul City Council member said Saturday that “pointing out systemic and institutional racism is not an attack” on police officers.

Dai Thao was responding to St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell saying Friday that Thao had insulted the department’s employees.

“We can be appreciative of the individual officers and simultaneously be critical about changing systems that disenfranchise communities of color,” Thao, who is running for mayor, said in a statement. “We cannot repair the trust between our police officers and the community except by having open and honest conversations with all engaged parties.”

The rare public back-and-forth between a St. Paul police chief and elected official began after Thao posted a message to his personal Facebook page on Wednesday night, which included the statement, “I alone cannot change police policies, but if we work together, we can end systemic and institutional racism.”

His message came after community members disrupted a city council meeting Wednesday to say they were looking for answers about what happened to Cordale Handy, who was fatally shot by St. Paul police officers on March 15.

Axtell responded Friday in a message posted to the police department’s Facebook page: “His sweeping generalizations about our police department are untrue. They are also an insult to all SPPD employees — sworn and civilian — who work hard on behalf of the city.”

Thao responded Saturday, saying he did “not appreciate the mischaracterizations of my words.” He said his post was not an attack on officers, “but rather a historically and factually based recognition of the experiences of (sic) too many St. Paul residents face.”

Thao said he’s been a strong advocate for the city’s police department, but he “will never apologize for recognizing the concerns of those citizens.”