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‘He leaves or I leave’: Mass. police chief won’t return to work over Trump flag in station
The flag supporting Trump, which the chief said does not belong to him, was in a gym used by officers and would not be seen by members of the public.
A Massachusetts police chief said he won’t return to the job after, he says, a new town administrator demanded he remove a Trump flag in a gym used by officers and accused the chief of lying.
Dennis Minnich has been chief of the West Boylston police department since 1997. He submitted a letter to the small Worcester suburb’s Select Board and filed a formal complaint against Town Administrator James Ryan, who started on the job in January.
Minnich told Boston.com the flag supporting President Donald Trump, which does not belong to him, was in a gym used by officers and would not be seen by members of the public.
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When Ryan took a tour of the department, he contacted Minnich about removing the flag, calling it a civil rights violation, according to Minnich. While Minnich told Ryan he would take the flag down, he said he disagreed with Ryan’s characterization of the flag, which he returned to the officer.
“I did not tell the guys they couldn’t put something up. It’s not insubordination,” Minnich said. “I’m certainly not against President Trump. He’s the president. I support him, but it has nothing to do with that. It could have been Obama.”
Minnich said the flag was blue with “Trump” written in white letters. Later, according to screenshots shared with Boston.com, another flag with “Trump 2024” written with American flag iconography appeared in the gym.
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Ryan allegedly asked a town employee to enter the police department to confirm if the flag had been taken down, who then took a picture of a second flag that had been put up. In a letter to the Select Board, Minnich said the employee used his personal phone.
“(Ryan) has not only put our town and officers at risk but also jeopardized the chain of evidence and confidentiality of victims,” Minnich wrote. “While I fully support and uphold the principles of neutrality and professionalism within our department I find these actions highly concerning, both from a security standpoint and in terms of professionalism and proper conduct.”
Minnich said he didn’t know about the second flag and had removed the first flag as Ryan had requested, but said the town administrator accused him of lying.
“This is a security violation,” Minnich said, referring to the employee taking pictures. “This is a trust issue, and if I can’t trust the guy I report to, I’m not coming back to work. Either you got to do something with him or me.”
Minnich said he plans to use vacation days through March 2, and his contract is up for renewal the next day. The Select Board will meet Tuesday evening in executive session, when Minnich said his letter will be addressed.
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Ryan did not return a request for comment Monday evening.
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