Advocacy group stages protest at Target HQ over donations flap
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The liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org continued its criticism of Target Corporation's recent political donations Friday by staging a protest at the company's headquarters in downtown Minneapolis.
Protesters delivered a petition signed by more than 240,000 people who plan to boycott the retail giant. Target's CEO apologized to employees on Thursday for the dustup caused by a $150,000 donation to a group backing Republican Tom Emmer for governor.
Jacob Reitan of Eden Prairie says Emmer is anti-gay, and the petition is aimed at convincing Target to stop making political contributions.
"I think when corporations, in light of this new law, start giving politically; it sets us down on a very dangerous road," Reitan said. "My money shouldn't be going to support politicians, as a consumer."
Brad Wagner of Target's diversity team told protesters that the company is sorry about the controversy. Wagner said Target remains committed to diversity and inclusion.
"What I can tell you is that going forward we are also committed to making sure we do things better, that we have a system set up for a vetting process as we make these contributions," Wagner said.
Protesters said they want Target and other corporations to stop making the political contributions that are now allowed under a recent Supreme Court ruling.
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