We want to bring you an update on a story we brought you last week about racist rhetoric from retired Boise Police captain Matthew Bryngelson.
He recently spoke at the American Renaissance Conference in Burns, Tennessee. The organization’s website is part of the New Century Foundation which the Southern Poverty Law Center calls “a self-styled think tank that promotes pseudo-scientific studies and research that purport to show the inferiority of blacks to whites.”
American Renaissance portrays whites as superior to black people and says people of color commit more crime than white people.
On Wednesday, Boise Mayor Lauren McLean held a news conference to talk about the case, announcing the independent investigator selected to review the Boise Police Department and Bryngelson. Michael Bromwich, at Washington DC firm Steptoe and Johnson, will lead the investigation.
Bromwich recently investigated widespread corruption in the Baltimore Police Department and is representing the Phoenix Police Department while they are under federal investigation. McLean said she selected him out of several recommendations.
Since the news came out last weekend the Boise Mayor’s office, the Boise Police Department and many others have condemned Bryngelson’s views and McLean launched an investigation.
The city is still negotiating a contract with Bromwich and there is no timeline for when the investigation will begin. Our All Things Considered host Troy Oppie was at the press conference and he joined Idaho Matters for an update.
