BOISE, Idaho — Boise Mayor Lauren McLean held a press conference Wednesday morning to discuss the next steps in an investigation after she learned a former Boise Police Department Captain participated in a conference hosted by a group that Southern Poverty Law Center claimsis a white nationalist group.
The investigation will be completed through an independent investigator, and McLean plans to hire former DOJ inspector Michael R. Bromwich.
“Our officers serve this community tirelessly and we are eager to learn whether Matt Bryngelson's ideology led to any discriminatory impact on our community members or in our police department in the various roles he had,” McLean said. "We need to know whether racist ideology has tainted policing, hiring and promotions, internal investigations and community interactions in any way."
Mclean stated Bryngelson participated in what she called a "white nationalist" conference a few weeks ago and that he also had ongoing contributions to "racist dehumanizing propaganda" while a sworn officer in the department.
Bryngelson retired as a captain for the department in August after serving for 20 years.
“There is no room in the Boise Police Department for those who allow racist or white supremacist views to negatively impact policing in our community,” Interim Chief Ron Winegar said.
As you know, our community was rocked last week to learn that a retired Boise police officer has held and actively advanced racist, dehumanizing propaganda while serving as a sworn officer. I do not believe that those ideals are pervasive in our department.
— Mayor McLean (@boisemayor) November 30, 2022
"It's one thing to hold a set of beliefs, I mean that. It is one thing to hold a set of beliefs. But it is an altogether different thing to allow those beliefs to impact the behaviors, to impact your fellow officers, to impact the community, and that's what we have to be able to determine and share with the community,” McLean said.
McLean will ask City Council to approve the contract next week and the investigation will begin immediately after.
