Parade went ahead in scaled‑back form; public criticism and council, police officials explain decision

Council and public-safety officials defended a decision to allow a scaled-back St. Patrick’s parade to proceed after the tornado; several residents used public comment to criticize that choice.

Mayor and public-safety staff described the decision-making process: the mayor said the decision was discussed in a small group that included the university chief and the city police chief and that a tentative decision to postpone was held until midnight before choosing to scale the event down. Police Chief Fagan said the decision included reserve officers, university police and mutual aid, and that the scaled-down parade allowed officers to provide a security presence where people had already gathered downtown.

A public commenter, Michael Kaelyn, criticized the choice sharply, saying the city “allowed the separation to go on with this community's suffering” and called the decision “an utter disgrace,” and asked that the university and parade organizers postpone the event. Another resident asked who made the decision; the mayor answered that the decision was made jointly by four people and cited public-safety considerations.

Why it matters: the decision sparked community debate over using limited emergency resources during a disaster response. Officials said they weighed optics against safety, concluded many students and bystanders would gather downtown regardless, and prioritized having officers present in a scaled event rather than trying to disperse crowds without resources.

Council and public-safety leaders asked the public to direct questions to the command-post briefing planned for the next day and noted that many mutual-aid resources were used in the emergency response.