City Manager Curt Boganey was fired by the city’s mayor after Boganey called for due process to be accorded the police officer who apparently accidentally shot and killed Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minn., on Monday.
Mayor Mike Elliott had called for the officer’s head at a press conference with Boganey.
“Let me be very clear – my position is that we cannot afford to make mistakes that lead to the loss of life of other people in our profession,” Elliott said. “I do fully support releasing the officer of her duties.”
But Boganey tried to remind the mayor that the officer had rights.
“All employees working for the city of Brooklyn Center are entitled to due process with respect to discipline,” Boganey said. “This employee will receive due process and that’s really all that I can say today.”
Boganey was asked again if the officer should be immediately fired.
“If I were to answer that question, I’d be contradicting what I said a moment ago — which is to say that all employees are entitled to due process and after that due process, discipline will be determined,” Boganey said. “If I were to say anything else, I would actually be contradicting the idea of due process.”
Apparently, that attitude upset Mayor Elliott.
Effective immediately our city manager has been relieved of his duties, and the deputy city manager will be assuming his duties moving forward. I will continue to work my hardest to ensure good leadership at all levels of our city government.
— Mayor Mike Elliott (@mayor_elliott) April 12, 2021
What makes Elliot’s craven collapse in the face of mob pressure so egregious is that no one yet knows exactly what transpired. The bodycam footage shows Mr. Wright resisting arrest. Beyond that, perceptions of the officers involved must be considered as well.
The city manager ran afoul of an out-of-control mob. “Due process” is not part of the narrative. Calm, reasoned responses are not welcome. Unless you demonstrate hysterical rage at what happened to Daunte Wright, you’re suspected of the ultimate crime of “not caring.”
Brooklyn Center was targeted by looters Monday night. Drug stores, always a favorite of these social justice warriors, were hit hard in several neighborhoods.
At least 13 pharmacies around the Twin Cities were closed Monday following the night of civil unrest, according to Cody Wiberg, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy. He said it’s unclear how many of them were looted, with at least two of them apparently closing as a precaution.
A Walgreens spokesman said eight of its Twin Cities area pharmacies were damaged and were closed on Monday as a result. Walgreens’ website showed that closed locations included those in Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park as well as in Minneapolis on West Broadway, Central Avenue and Hennepin Avenue. The spokesman said the company is still assessing the damage and will reopen them as quickly as possible. CVS also had four stores close due to damage.
The city council confirmed the mayor’s position and acknowledged the mob’s influence in firing Boganey.
The Brooklyn Center City Council voted to fire Boganey, a longtime city employee, during an emergency meeting, the Star Tribune reported. At the same meeting, the council voted to give the mayor command authority over the city’s police department.
During a virtual workshop after the meeting, Council Member Kris Lawrence-Anderson said she voted to fire Boganey out of fear of potential reprisals from protestors if she did not, according to the newspaper.
“He was doing a great job. I respect him dearly,” Lawrence-Anderson said. “I didn’t want repercussions at a personal level.”
If Ms. Lawrence-Anderson was afraid of doing the right thing and supporting what she knows is right — due process for the officer — she should have resigned. Now, she joins the rest of the grovelers who kiss the butts of violent rioters and hope against hope… that the crocodile eats them last.
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