ST. PAUL — Gov. Mark Dayton, who has been critical of Black Lives Matters’ methods, said Wednesday that he offered to meet with their activists but was told that would be “counterproductive.”

“I don’t want to do anything that would be counterproductive. But I would be willing to meet with their leadership,” Dayton said.

This summer, Black Lives Matter activists in Minnesota have sought to disrupt the Minnesota State Fair and light-rail travel to call attention to their cause. They have also protested in front of Dayton’s St. Paul home and plan to appear at Sunday’s Twin Cities Marathon.

Dayton, a veteran protester from the Vietnam War era, said those attention-grabbing protests are not the best way to achieve equality.

“I would ask Black Lives Matter to consider meeting with myself, if that’s desired, as an alternative to disrupting people who trained for a long time and a marathon that has no connection with the grievances that they want to put forward,” he said.

Although he said he was willing to offer a gubernatorial meeting with Black Lives Matter organizers, he was told indirectly that their organizers are still angry with him because he said last month that their State Fair protest was inappropriate.