The state’s legislation enforcement licensing fee decertified a former Woburn police officer accused of serving to plan a 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., a transfer that provides the cop’s title to a nationwide database of decertified officers.
It's the first time the Massachusetts Peace Officer Requirements and Coaching Fee has decertified an officer underneath a 2020 police reform legislation that was created and handed within the wake of George Floyd’s loss of life by the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
New data launched Monday present that former Woburn cop John Donnelly entered right into a “voluntary decertification settlement” with the POST Fee that was signed by POST Fee Chair Margaret Hinkle final month.
“The respondent John Donnelly has entered right into a voluntary decertification settlement underneath which he has agreed to the revocation of his certification as a legislation enforcement officer within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the entry of his decertification within the Nationwide Decertification Index,” the order reads, referring to a nationwide registry of officers whose certifications or licenses have been revoked due to officer misconduct.
Donnelly was at first placed on depart in October 2022 because the Middlesex District Lawyer’s Workplace investigated allegations that he helped plan a 2017 white supremacist rally that led to the loss of life of a counterprotester.
Woburn Police Chief Robert Rufo Jr. mentioned on the time that his division had “not too long ago discovered” that Donnelly “allegedly participated in and was energetic within the planning of the so-called ‘Unite the Proper’ rally.” White nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan participated within the rally.
Donnelly resigned from his publish solely days after he was suspended and “previous to the conclusion of its inside investigation into this matter and previous to the imposition of any self-discipline,” in accordance with the POST Fee.
A spokesperson for the Woburn Police Division referred the Herald to an October assertion from Rufo, who mentioned Donnelly’s actions are “in direct opposition to the core values of the Woburn Police Division, to serve all members of our neighborhood equally and deal with them with dignity and respect.”
MassCop, which is listed as representing Donnelly, didn't instantly reply to a request for remark.
The POST Fee began a “preliminary inquiry” into the allegations in opposition to Donnelly on Nov. 22, 2022. A month earlier, a reporter from HuffPost.com and a bunch known as Ignite the Proper “each publicly alleged that [Donnelly] engaged in misconduct and/or is unfit to be a police officer in Massachusetts,” the POST Fee mentioned in an overview of the case that Donelly signed on March 26.
Donnelly waived his rights to contest the order or ask for additional administrative or judicial proceedings with the POST Fee.
The POST Fee added a brand new part to their web site known as “Fee Selections & Orders” the place the general public can learn instances that come earlier than the physique, together with officer decertification, mentioned Enrique Zuniga, the manager director of the POST Fee.
“Since its inception, the POST Fee has met statutory obligations and deadlines whereas specializing in the vital duties related to constructing the company, Zuniga mentioned in an announcement to the Herald. ” We anticipate commonly updating this part going ahead.”
The POST Fee additionally refused to recertify the policing license of Michael Brennan, who was employed as a part-time deputy sheriff by the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Workplace in 2008, as a result of his title was listed on the Nationwide Decertification Index.
“It's undisputed that Mr. Brennan consented to have one other jurisdiction listing his title within the NDI and admitted to having performed an improper seek for data utilizing Felony Justice Data Companies (CJIS) whereas employed as an officer in Massachusetts,” a POST Fee doc mentioned.
After serving for years in Massachusetts on the sheriff’s workplace, the USA Marshals Service, and as a particular police officer in Rockland, Brennan sought employment with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Workplace in Arizona in 2021.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Workplace forwarded Brennan’s file to their native POST Board after providing him a job, which discovered a “suspected violation” of their certification guidelines. He was denied the job as a result of he answered “sure” on a polygraph take a look at when requested if he had ever damaged the legislation.
“Mr. Brennan disclosed in the course of the interview that in 2015, whereas volunteering with the Rockland Police Division, he accessed CJIS to seek for the deal with of the mom of his then-girlfriend,” paperwork from the Massachusetts POST Fee mentioned. “Mr. Brennan asserted that the 2 girls have been estranged and the girlfriend was involved for her aged mom’s well-being.”
Brennan was later added to the Nationwide Decertification Index by the Arizona POST Board.
Lawyer Peter Noone of Avery Dooley & Noone confirmed that he represents Brennan however didn't instantly present a remark when reached by cellphone.