Former City Manager Curt Boganey of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, which borders Minneapolis, was let go on Monday after he publicly stated that the police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright should receive “due process” and a full investigation instead of being fired immediately.
“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,” Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott wrote on Twitter after all but one of the City Council members voted to oust Boganey. One councilwoman, Kris Lawrence-Anderson, said she “didn’t want repercussions at a personal level” if she voted to keep Boganey.
https://twitter.com/mayor_elliott/status/1381737520933797899?s=20
Elliott announced Boganey’s dismissal after the city manager refused to comply with the mayor’s public plea for police officer Kim Potter to be fired after she reportedly fired her gun instead of using her taser on Wright during a traffic stop.
“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 and in our profession,” Elliott said during a Monday press conference. “I do fully support releasing the officer of her duties.”
After Brooklyn Center, MN, City Manager Curt Boganey says officer who shot Daunte Wright will get “due process.”
Presser attendee tells him, “Daunte Wright did not get due process in that situation — she needs to be fired immediately.” pic.twitter.com/TYDVUMFuUq
— The Recount (@therecount) April 12, 2021
Boganey, who is black, served as the city manager for more than 15 years where he had the authority to make personnel decisions regarding the city’s police department. One day after he was fired, Potter and Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon, the officer who said Potter shot Wright on accident, both resigned.
“I have loved every minute of being a police officer and serving this community to the best of my ability, but I believe it is in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if I resign immediately,” Potter wrote in her resignation letter after she was placed on administrative leave.
Since Wright’s death on Sunday, hundreds of people in the Minneapolis suburb took to the streets to wreak havoc on the city with rioting and looting. On Tuesday night, local news reported that more than 60 people were arrested for “riot and other criminal behaviors.” Officers near the Brooklyn Center police station reportedly used pepper spray and other munitions to fend off rioters who threw objects at the police and yelled about justice for Wright.
NOW: FIRE BROOKLYN CENTER HUMBOLDT AND 70th pic.twitter.com/wEkDTDodcH
— Karen Scullin FOX9 (@kscullinfox9) April 14, 2021
Crowd given 10 minutes to leave or be arrested. Flash bangs from police – lasers, strobe light , items tossed from crowd pic.twitter.com/FRG4l45VvA
— Karen Scullin FOX9 (@kscullinfox9) April 14, 2021
Unlawful assembly declared flash bangs going off. Crowd tossing items over fence – police telling crowd to leave pic.twitter.com/Aaxv0RCCjF
— Karen Scullin FOX9 (@kscullinfox9) April 14, 2021
