The head of the St. Paul police union said Wednesday they did not intend to revictimize mayoral candidate Melvin Carter III’s family in raising questions Tuesday about a home burglary, and he apologized.

“Melvin Carter’s campaign has asserted that the amazing men and women of the St. Paul police department are racists,” St. Paul Police Federation President Dave Titus said in the three-sentence statement. “This is something we categorically deny and find offensive. The intent of our letter yesterday was in no way to revictimize the Carter family and for that we apologize.”

Mayor Chris Coleman, who is not running for re-election, said in a Wednesday statement that he has great respect for each of the candidates.

“For any member of the St. Paul Police Federation to attack a crime victim for political advantage is not in keeping with the best traditions of our City,” Coleman said. “I expect more than Trump-style attacks in our public discourse that do a disservice to the hardworking men and women of the St. Paul Police Department and each of the residents they serve. I unequivocally condemn the message and tone of the Federation’s letter.”

On Aug. 15, Carter’s home in the Summit-University area was broken into and, among other things, two handguns were stolen. Carter has said both guns were handed down to him by his father, a retired police officer, and were kept in a locked box.

On Tuesday, the Police Federation released a letter criticizing Carter for not providing police with the guns’ serial numbers.

Carter’s campaign disputed the union’s assertions related to the break-in and gun theft, and said he did not even know the guns’ serial numbers.

Emily Weber, Carter’s campaign manager, referred to the letter as a “racist attack.”

“The letter we received from the St. Paul Police Federation demonstrates the way people of color are presumed guilty by police every day in our city,” Weber wrote in a Tuesday statement.

St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell has talked to Carter about the letter from the police union, said Steve Linders, a police department spokesman.

“The chief assured him that the department was not involved in any way in writing or sending the letter, nor does the department have any further questions about the investigation into the burglary at his home,” Linders said.

Prosecutors charged a man in the burglary on Friday.

Mayoral candidate Pat Harris, who is endorsed and financially backed by the St. Paul Police Federation, said Wednesday that he is not planning on distancing himself from the police union.

“We hadn’t seen the letter before it went out and we weren’t involved with it,” Harris said.

In August, Harris’ campaign refunded a $300 donation to Bob Kroll, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, the labor union that represents Minneapolis officers.

“We just felt that some of the discussion over there was not how I felt about things,” Harris said Wednesday.