St. Louis city scrubs 'they/them' profile of emergency official after siren failure during lethal tornado

The profile of a St. Louis city safety commissioner was scrubbed from the internet after officials admitted that sirens weren't activated ahead of a tornado disaster that killed five people.

City Emergency Management Agency Commissioner Sarah Russell was placed on administrative leave after Mayor Cara Spencer said that no one had activated the siren warning system on Friday. Russell and the CEMA staff were at a workshop away from the office where the siren button was located.

'I have been shocked, and I remain shocked and frankly a bit horrified by the issues in the system.'

Blaze News found that a website profile of the commissioner was no longer available at the city's site. But a search on the Wayback Machine internet digital archive found a version of the page from March 2025.

The profile specifically lists Russell's pronouns as "They/Them" at the top of the page.

The profile goes on to list Russell's resume, including the designation: "authority on social media."

The webpage now redirects to a page of contact information for other officials at the CEMA office.

In addition, a 2024 post on the X social media platform from an account identifying itself as a city account refers to Russell as "them."

Spencer's office said that Russell had contacted the fire department about the tornado, but a breakdown in communication has led many to speculate that lives were needlessly lost.

“We have systemic failure across so many systems here,” the mayor said.

She said that Russell had drafted the emergency procedure about the sirens in 2021, but it was vague and may not have been implemented fully.

“My takeaway was that the direction was not clear. It did not direct the person on the other end to press the fire button, and it’s my understanding the button was not pushed,” Mayor Spencer added.

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Photo by ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images

“I have been shocked, and I remain shocked and frankly a bit horrified by the issues in the system,” she added.

Spencer said she immediately ordered an internal investigation into the incident.

“The failure to activate the siren during a tornado has rightfully angered St. Louisans, including myself,” the mayor concluded. “While my first priority on this issue was to make sure this can never happen again, our community deserves full transparency and accountability.”

Blaze Media reached out to Russell for comment, but the commissioner did not respond.

Officials have said that the controversy over the siren failure has led to a number of death threats against Russell, according to St. Louis Today.

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