E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Steve Nesius / REUTERS
City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr. stands by at right while Mayor Jeff Triplett speaks recently about the Trayvon Martin case in Sanford, Fla.
SANFORD, Fla. -- City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr. acknowledges that he put pressure last week on Police Chief Bill Lee to step down over the Trayvon Martin case, though he stopped short of saying whether he threatened to fire Lee.
During a discussion with NBC News on Wednesday, Bonaparte said he held frank conversations with Lee.
“I did suggest,” Bonaparte said, “for the community to move forward, that he consider resigning.”
Asked whether the suggestion constituted an ultimatum, Bonaparte demurred.
"The chief of police, as all of the city department directors, serves at the pleasure of the city manager and can be fired at any time for no cause,” Bonaparte said, adding that he and Lee “came to an agreement.”
Pressed if the agreement required Lee to hand in a resignation letter or be fired, Bonaparte said, “I think the chief is a very intelligent man.”
The remarks offer some insight into the back-and-forth between Bonaparte and Lee during the days before Monday’s dramatic meeting at City Hall – when Sanford City Commissioners voted 3 to 2 to reject Lee’s resignation.
The vote spiked Bonaparte's effort to place a new leader at the police department this week.
Monday's swing vote came from Mayor Jeff Triplett, who only weeks ago joined the majority in a no-confidence vote in the embattled chief. (Following that March 22 vote, Lee announced he would step down temporarily; he remains on paid leave.)
Lee has been under fire since deciding not to make an arrest in the Feb. 26 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African American teenager, inside a gated community in Sanford. The shooting has set off a national discussion about race, and a controversial self-defense law in Florida.
Monday, Triplett said he wished to wait for an internal review of Lee’s investigation into Martin’s death before accepting the chief's resignation.
Bonaparte said Wednesday he had also been in favor of a review.
“Before making any judgments about Chief Lee,” Bonaparte said, “I wanted an independent assessment from a law enforcement entity that could tell me, did the Sanford police do things they shouldn’t have done? Did they not do things that they should have done?”
But, Bonaparte added, he concluded that investigators would be slowed by the state’s case against George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman accused of second-degree murder in Martin’s death.
“To do a thorough and complete investigation into the Sanford Police Department’s actions,” Bonaparte said, “they will need to look at some of the evidence that the Special Prosecutor has. That is not public.”
Wednesday’s discussion also offered some insight into Bonaparte himself, who arrived here in September, after leaving a job as city manager in Topeka, Kansas.
Bonaparte said he had been told homelessness would be the key issue here in Sanford. Now he finds himself caught in the middle of a tempest, receiving angry letters from Lee’s supporters and detractors.
Turning to his computer, Bonaparte said his inbox has 1,643 unopened emails.
“I can share with you some of the emails and letters that I received,” he said, “very colorful, some of them.”
Bonaparte said he blames the hot atmosphere over Martin’s death in part on visits from national media outlets and activist groups.
“In Kansas – as well as sometimes Florida – we have tornadoes,” Bonaparte said.
“I could see where a tornado could go over a community, completely devastate the community; the tornado keeps going. It disappears and dissipates. The community is still destroyed,” he continued.
But Bonaparte, who is African American, also credits the attention his small city has received with forcing an uncomfortable discussion.
“I don't think that it made race relations bad in Sanford,” he said of the case.
“It uncovered how bad they may have been,” he said, adding, “so now let's deal with that.”
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
Lots of bad decisions and sloppy work by this PD. Chief needs to go.
Maybe the investigators at the time DID collect enough forensic evidence. Hopefully that will lead to a fair trial based on adequate, properly obtained evidence. Let a jury decide the case in a court of law.
Well lets hear about these bad decisions and sloppy work. It is easy to generalize but can you be specific and on topic?
Mrmedicineboxes----------Look below at comment #6 by MikadoCat who addresses your question.
ah, the black guy wants the white guy to quit over the..not white, but not black, but is black, but not mexican, but white enough to piss the black people off that shot the kid, that was over 6 feet tall, that was old enough to join the army, but had skittles in his pocket but did hit the guy..OH DEAR GAWD JUST MAKE IT STOP!!!!
Hey rw, racial profiling can occur regardless of the race of the person doing the profiling. "Shooterman" may not identify himself with African Americans and can very easily discriminate against other African Americans. Why don't you just stop. White people discriminate against "white trash" - do they not? It may not be racism but it is social discrimination none the less. That is the real problem with the conservative psychic, it cannot see the shades of grey in an apparent "black and white" dilemma. Yeah, make it stop... leave the real problems to people who want solutions.
...and the horse you rode in on--------------------To add to your 4th sentence in the social category-- What about high school cliques and the type-group of cheerleaders+male athletes vs what they call "nerds" Maybe more tolerance and acceptance courses need to be formally added to the school curriculum.
@thoughtful, it is built into the culture at the school my kid attends. It seems to have a positive impact on the relationships throughout the school but especially by empowering the middle school kids to act as role models for the elementary kids. It is working.
If I were Lee I would sue for wrongful dismissal.
Admitting constructive dismissal is pure ignorance of the labour Laws !
lilmschargerfan,
Here we go again. Public convicts Zimmerman, now going to condem the police chief without an investigation.
Just what would the bad decisions and sloppy work be?
In the past few days there has been at least two incidents involving blacks beating whites & using the Trayvon Martin case as their excuse. One in Chicago & the other in Mobile Al. MSNBC has not reported either of these.
MSNBC however continues to dredge up ANY story concerning the Martin/Zimmerman case. Is this unbiased reporting or continuing to fan the flames of racism?
And yet MSN does nothing. I am so disheartened by this that won't have anything to do with this website or news station. Shame on you MSNBC, NBS, MSN. Shame on you all.
Sounds to me like Bonaparte is the one that needs to be fired. He arrives in town in September and by April he is the one deciding who should be Chief of Police? I don't think so, time to get a City Manager that is qualified for this job and send this man back to Kansas.
I took over as manager in a company once and one of my first tasks was to fire 3 people. I didn't even know them, but looking over their performance and speaking with coworkers I approved the terminations. It's done all the time.
There are some specific complaints.
The initial detective talking to Zimmerman was narcotics, not homicide.
Zimmerman was not tested for alcohol or drugs.
The police did not use information on Trayvon's cell phone, or billing history.
DeeDee and the Anderson Cooper ear witness did not have statements taken.
One ear witness on the scene said the crys from help were from Trayvon, and the officer taking her statement "corrected" her saying it was Zimmerman, and she wants her statement changed.
Martin family lawyers sent a letter to the justice dept alleging state attorney Norm Wolflinger met privately with Lee and overruled a detective who wanted to charge Zimmerman with manslaughter.
************* Some notes on the above.
The idea is that questions by a non homicide detective may have "lead" the narrative of Zimmerman's statement preventing him from "slipping up" and admitting or phrasing anything that made him look guilty. I believe this was taped, so it can be examined.
I don't know why Zimmerman wasn't tested for alcohol or drugs, maybe lack of formal arrest prevented it, or the fact the detective was from narcotics and didn't see any reason to ask for a test. Wikipedia says a warrant is required except in a DUI case.
I can't find a reference to procedures that apply to a victims cell phone, but I recall reading it was routine to turn it off, and some restrictions existed to accessing it.
Mikado Cat---------You have made some very good observations. Of course, Trayvon's girlfriend's testimony should be weighted on an equal scale to that of Zimmerman's. (I hope the investigators on the case now will carefully look into all the issues you raised and glean the proper evidence concerning those issues. Then a fair trial will be able to proceed.)
except its hearsay she was not actually there.
>The initial detective talking to Zimmerman was narcotics, not homicide.
The skill is basically the same its nonissue
>Zimmerman was not tested for alcohol or drugs.
You a warrant to do that unless have probable cause to believe intoxicated.
>The police did not use information on Trayvon's cell phone, or billing history.
The phone was self locking and his mother who actually would not give consent to see the records.
>DeeDee and the Anderson Cooper ear witness did not have statements taken.
Dee Dee was unknown then once know refused to interviewed. The AC witness clearly stated she was unwilling to give her and refused to interviewed. Its on the 911 tapes.
>One ear witness on the scene said the crys from help were from Trayvon, and the officer taking her statement "corrected" her saying it was Zimmerman, and she wants her statement changed.
That because the ear witnesses who calling but an eyewitness did it Zimmerman crying for help
>Martin family lawyers sent a letter to the justice dept alleging state attorney Norm Wolflinger met privately with Lee and overruled a detective who wanted to charge Zimmerman with manslaughter.
There no proof any of this happened.
Typical gutless politician. Can't wait to see the results of a proper trial, just take your marching orders from the screaming pack of zoo animals who already tried this case by what they've been told by media scum. if Zimmerman is found innocent and the police chief is found to have done his job correctly.anyone want to bet we hear nothing about this story again?
I lived outside of Sanford for many years. It has always had the reputation of the PD being racist, biased, 'Klan like'. Never cared for the town. I hope the truth does come out at trial. It's going to be hard to get a jury on this. They may have to move to another county. Prayers to all involved.
Sad, if true.
How about a no confidence vote for the whole city government. This is just sad.
Navy--that's not fair
How in God's world can they think the chief of police is responsible for all this mess ? When Trevon hit the guard , zimmerman had no way of knowing how old he was or what kinda wepon he might have had on him. This has turned out to be the biggest mess I have ever saw , If I were the Chief of Police I would sue the town the mayor the city manager and the black chief You know they are going to hire to make all the blacks happy. the town council made the rule of stand your ground , so lets get rid of all of them and start over. Watch a program called Bait Car , I really wonder where the parents are when fourteen and fifteen year old blacks out stealing cars. Black Mom s and Dads You better get ahold of em and shake em down or they will wind up in jail or worse dead.