St. Louis mayor faces calls to resign after she was accused of doxxing the names and addresses of constituents who wrote letters calling for police defunding

• St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson on Friday was accused of doxxing her constituents during a live broadcast on Facebook when she shared the names and addresses of protestors who gave her letters calling for police reform.
• On the since-deleted broadcast, Krewson shared the name and addresses of at least 10 people who called on her to slash police funding amid ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd.
• Krewson, a Democrat who has previously said she was "listening" to protestors' concerns, apologized amid complaints that her Facebook broadcast put her citizens at risk and that she should resign from office.
• The video was up for about three hours on Facebook before it was deleted and Krewson posted an apology.

St. Louis, Missouri, Mayor Lyda Krewson on Friday apologized after she earlier in the day shared the names and addresses of her constituents who had hand-delivered her letters calling for police reformation during a protest outside the St. Louis City Hall.

Krewson was asked toward the end of a Friday afternoon Facebook Live broadcast about an interaction she had with protestors outside the St. Louis City Hall. A woman watching the broadcast asked Krewson, a Democrat in office since 2017, about her conversations with the demonstrators, according to local news outlet Riverfront Times.

"I went outside City Hall, in the circle on the Tucker side of City Hall," Krewson said. "The conversation wasn't really a two-way conversation, I'll be honest with you, because there was a very loud, um, very loud response from the demonstrators. And so they gave me some papers about how they thought, uh — in fact, I'll go pick it up off my desk, hang on."

Krewson then grabbed a stack of papers from her desk, began reading from the letters, and sharing the names and addresses of the individuals who had written them to her.

"Here's one that wants $50 million to go to Cure Violence, $75 million to go to affordable housing, $60 million to go to Health and Human Services and have zero go to the police," Krewson said, according to the report. "So that's [REDACTED] who lives on [REDACTED] wants no police — no money going to police."

According to the Riverfront Times, Krewson repeated this at least ten times during her broadcast, reading the contents of the letters and sharing the names and addresses of the individuals who provided them to her.

She later added: "I agree with all these things, by the way — except we're not going to take all the money from the police," Krewson added on the since-deleted broadcast. I think we need our police department."

The video remained on her Facebook page for about three hours before it was deleted, according to the Riverfront Times report.

Krewson had previously said she and other city officials were listening to protestors' concerns amid ongoing demonstrations following the police killing of 46-year-old George Floyd in Minneapolis in May, according to Fox 2.

Krewson's office did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Saturday.

The mayor's actions incited immediate backlash across social media, as she was accused of doxxing — the action of publicly sharing another person's private information online, often with malicious intent.

"I would like to apologize for identifying individuals who presented letters to me at City Hall as I was answering a routine question during one of my updates earlier today," Krewson wrote on Facebook later Friday. "While this is public information, I did not intend to cause distress or harm to anyone. The post has been removed."

Krewson made similar remarks on Twitter. Her apologies did little to qualm the backlash.

"She needs to resign immediately," one person wrote in a Tweet that received nearly 800 retweets and more than 2,200 likes. "At best, this is unforgivable intimidation against her own people. At worst, it's an incitement."

A petition that was started by local drag queen Maxi Glamour calling for her resignation has gained more than 16,000 signatures since it was started late Friday.

"You should do the right thing for St Louis and step down," another person wrote in a tweet that racked up over 215 retweets and 1,300 likes. "You put lives at risk during an incredibly dangerous time. It doesn't matter whether your actions stemmed from carelessness or malice. Both are unacceptable and endanger citizens. Do the right thing this time, and resign.

Calls for Krewson's resignation have also come from her fellow St. Louis elected officials. Alderwoman Megan Green and city Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones both called the mayor to step down.

"I echo the calls for Mayor Krewson's resignation. Constituents should not fear retaliation for expressing their opinions on how our government aligns its spending priorities," Jones wrote.