Dallas mayor, councilman feud over handling of Botham Jean shooting
The mayor of Dallas and an outspoken councilman have been in a war of words in the aftermath of the shooting death of a man by an off-duty Dallas police officer.
Finger pointing and criticism has swirled around this case since the beginning and debate over the possible charges have raged in public, in private and among city leaders.
"This story on Friday was about an unexplainable tragedy. On Saturday, Sunday and today, the story is about did Dallas mismanage this process? And the answer is it looks like yes,” said Dallas councilman Philip Kingston.
Kingston is critical of how the city and the police department handled the shooting death of Botham Jean.
Without citing sources Kingston posted on his Facebook page Sunday, "… DPD called a judge on Friday who told them he would not sign a warrant for manslaughter... But would sign a warrant for murder." that, he claims, "… threw DPD into a tailspin... The decision was made to hand the investigation over to the Texas Rangers, who DPD says told them to stop seeking any warrant."
Kingston concluded by saying he was "… hearing that the Rangers don't want the case and aren't working it - leaving precisely no one in charge."
Frustrated by Kingston's posts, Mayor Mike Rawlings responded Monday morning.
“We looked at every point he made, and every one did not happen, and everybody should know that it's categorically, it's wrong,” Rawlings said.
It was a manslaughter warrant by the Texas Rangers that led to the arrest of Ofc. Amber Guyger on Sunday evening.
"It is a terrible thing for an elected official to get in the middle of an investigation that the Texas Rangers are doing and possibly hurt the DA's chances of doing what she wants to do,” Rawlings said.
Kingston stands by his comments and thinks the mayor is the one who is out of line.
"He got told a bunch of stuff and went and made public statements on Friday and Saturday that now don't look very well thought out and really don't match the facts. So, that's frustrating when that happens, it's happened to me. But taking it out on me in some king of tantrum is a little bit childish,” Kingston said.
Kingston said he's pleased the officer was arrested and believes the case and the investigation is on the right track.
He said he's reassured that the Dallas County District Attorney is conducting another separate and independent investigation that will ultimately go to a grand jury.