Brooklyn Center City Manager Fired After Calling For Due Process In Duane Wright Shooting

Brooklyn Center City Manager Curt Boganey was fired, Monday, after suggesting that the police officer involved in the shooting death of Duane Wright should be afforded due process before being fired from her job, contradicting Brooklyn Center mayor Mike Elliott, and, it seems, after the city council expressed fear that the manager’s “due process” comments would spark further violence.

Wright was shot and killed during an interaction with police in Brooklyn Center, a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to a press conference held Monday, the officer who allegedly drew her service weapon and shot Wright, who at that time appeared to be resisting arrest, did so by accident, mistaking the gun for her taser.

Mayor Elliot called for the police officer to be fired Monday, telling media that, “my position is that we cannot afford to make mistakes that lead to the loss of life of other people in our profession. I do fully support releasing the officer of her duties.”

Before exiting the same press conference, Boganey simply noted that city employees cannot be fired without an investigation.

“All employees working for the city of Brooklyn Center are entitled to due process with respect to discipline,” Boganey said, according to Fox News. “This employee will receive due process and that’s really all that I can say today.”

Boganey was then asked whether he personally believed the officer should be relieved of duty.

“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,” he replied, reiterating his call for an investigation. “If I were to say anything else, I would actually be contradicting the idea of due process.”

That was too much for the city council, Fox News notes, who voted, in an emergency meeting Monday night, to relieve Boganey of his duties.

The council, the outlet said, “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.”

At least one council member said she personally felt Boganey was doing a “good job,” but she feared that his comments about due process would further inflame tensions and lead Brooklyn Center residents to engage in violence in violation of the city’s curfew.

“At a virtual council workshop, Council Member Kris Lawrence-Anderson said she voted to remove the city manager because she feared for her property and retaliation by protestors if she had voted to keep him,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

“He was doing a great job. I respect him dearly,”  she said. “I didn’t want repercussions at a personal level.”

The riots materialized despite Boganey’s departure. KSTP Minneapolis reported Tuesday morning that 40 arrests were made overnight in Brooklyn Center and in Minneapolis, including arrests for rioting. Several law enforcement agencies were involved in handling violence Monday night, including around 500 members of the Minnesota National Guard and officials from the Minnesota State Police.

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