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Mayor takes over police dept., fires city manager who vowed 'due process' for officer in death of Daunte Wright
Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliot (left) and former City Manager Curt Boganey/(BNC News YouTube video screenshots)

Mayor takes over police dept., fires city manager who vowed 'due process' for officer in death of Daunte Wright

Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott is taking quick actions

The mayor and city council of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, have made some major changes a day after Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black man, was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop Sunday afternoon.

Mayor Mike Elliott announced Monday evening he has commandeered the city's police department thanks to the city council. The council also voted to fire City Manager Curt Boganey — who promised Monday that the officer involved in the shooting would be given "due process."

What are the details?

During a news conference regarding the death of Wright before the council meeting, Elliott explained that Boganey controls the police department and he gave the city manager the floor.

Boganey immediately addressed a prior question about the prospect of firing the officer involved in the shooting, saying, "All employees working for the city of Brooklyn Center are entitled to due process with respect to discipline. This employee will receive due process, and that's all I can really say today."

Elected in 2019, Elliott tweeted hours later with no explanation, "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."

The StarTribune reported that Boganey — who had worked for the city since 2005 — was terminated at an emergency City Council meeting where the officials voted to not only get rid of the city manager but to hand authority of the police department over to Elliott. The outlet noted that the council was also "poised to fire" Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon.

At least one City Council member expressed uneasiness about terminating Boganey, according to the paper, who reported:

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.

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

Brooklyn Center is about 10 miles from Minneapolis, where tensions are high as the trial against Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, remains ongoing.

The high-profile video of Chauvin, kneeling for over nine minutes on Floyd's neck before his death, has sparked protests against police brutality and for racial justice across the country, which lasted for months.

Anything else?

Police also said Monday that the fatal shooting of Wright was an accident by an unidentified "very senior" female officer who apparently mistook her handgun for a Taser.

The Brooklyn Center Police Department released body camera video of the deadly shooting of Wright on Monday.

Warning: Graphic content

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