Police union leader slams Brooklyn Center mayor for 'letting political activists run the show'


A police union leader has slammed Brooklyn Center’s mayor for ‘letting political activists run the show’ after a white female cop shot dead a black man in the city. 

Brian Peters, the head of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, told WCCO-AM radio: ‘If I were the mayor, I would not allow the political activists [to] run the show.’

Peters claims Mike Elliott – mayor since January 2019 – is in ‘way over his head’. 

He also suggested Daunte Wright ‘should have complied’ during the arrest which lead to his death Sunday, adding: ‘This is going to be an unpopular statement.

‘Daunte Wright, if he would have just complied – he was told he was under arrest, they were arresting him on a warrant for weapons – he set off a chain of events that unfortunately led to his death.

‘I’m not excusing it. But we’re seeing in policing these days is that non-compliance by the public.’

Former cop Kim Potter, 48, was on Wednesday charged with second-degree manslaughter – which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison – for killing 20-year-old Wright. 

She posted $100,000 bond Wednesday evening and was released from the Hennepin County jail, online records showed. 

Brian Peters, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association

Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott

Police union leader Brian Peters has slammed Brooklyn Center’s mayor Mike Elliott for ‘letting political activists run the show’ in wake of the deadly police shooting of a black man

Peters also said that fired City Manager Curt Boganey and police Chief Tim Gannon, who resigned in wake of Sunday’s shootings, were ‘political pawns’.

Mayor Mike Elliott, 37, a black man who had emigrated from Liberia as a child, has said: ‘It´s been very difficult for myself, for the community, to deal with the pain and the agony that comes from watching a young man be killed before our eyes.’ 

Since the Sunday shooting, the mayor has become the face of this community’s struggle, which comes as a former Minneapolis police officer is on trial in the Floyd case.

Brooklyn Center, Min., Police Chief Tim Gannon

Curt Boganey

Peters also said that fired City Manager Curt Boganey, right, and police Chief Tim Gannon, left, who resigned in wake of Sunday’s shootings, were ‘political pawns’

Elliott has promised transparency and vowed accountability for Wright´s death. 

But Peters said of his meetings with the press earlier this week: ‘If you watch that press conference, you can see the community activists ran that press conference.’ 

He claims Elliott – mayor since January 2019 – is in ‘way over his head’, adding: ‘The decisions that this mayor is making is completely just nothing like I’ve ever seen.’

The shooting of Wright by a white police officer has set off four days of protests in Brooklyn Center.  

Under pressure to swiftly fire the officer involved, Elliott and the city council voted to fire the city manager, and give control of the police department to the mayor. 

A protester carrying a pigs head on a stake has said the only way things change is 'if people start throwing things' during a fourth night of unrest in Minnesota Wednesday following the police shooting of a black man there

A protester carrying a pigs head on a stake has said the only way things change is ‘if people start throwing things’ during a fourth night of unrest in Minnesota Wednesday following the police shooting of a black man there

Shortly after 9 p.m., police announced over a loudspeaker that the protest was an unlawful assembly

Shortly after 9 p.m., police announced over a loudspeaker that the protest was an unlawful assembly

A protester is pictured on the floor during clashed with police Wednesday. A second demonstrator appears to be protecting her with an umbrella shield

A protester is pictured on the floor during clashed with police Wednesday. A second demonstrator appears to be protecting her with an umbrella shield 

On Tuesday, Potter and the police chief resigned. Elliot made clear the city already had been moving toward firing Potter. He said he hoped her departure would ‘bring some calm to the community.’

But the mayor also has acknowledged systemic sources of the distrust between residents and police in his city. 

Of the roughly 50 sworn officers on the city´s force, ‘very few’ are people of color and none live in Brooklyn Center, he said, acknowledging he saw the latter as a clear problem.

‘There is a huge importance to having a significant number of your officers living in the community where they serve,’ he said.     

Kimberly Potter, 48, was released from the Hennepin County jail at 5.38pm after posting a $100,000 bond

Potter has been charged for the shooting death of Daunte Wright, pictured

Kimberly Potter, 48, left, was released from the Hennepin County jail at 5.38pm after posting a $100,000 bond after she was charged for the shooting death of Daunte Wright, right

The former Brooklyn Center police chief has said that Potter, a 26-year veteran and training officer, intended to use her Taser on Wright but fired her handgun instead. 

Potter shouted ‘Taser, Taser, Taser,’ as she pulled the trigger on her handgun at 2:02:01, firing one round into the left side of the victim, the complaint states.

Wright immediately said ‘ah, he shot me,’ and drove away in his car before crashing and coming to a stop.

Meanwhile, Potter said ‘S**t, I just shot him!’ after firing her gun.    

Leave a Reply