In the pastoral placebaiting practiced by some folks in rural Minnesota, rural leaders have a clearer view of how people in the Evil Metro should live.
An object lesson about the flaw in this story appeared late Tuesday in the Mankato Free Press online.
In 2017, the late lamented City Pages reported about a tweet then Rice County Sheriff's Sergeant Thomas McBroom posted about Diamond Reynolds, Philando Castile's girlfriend.
While the original reporting by Susan Du is offline, readers can learn more about the story in Michael Harriot's column at The Root, City Councilman and Sheriff’s Deputy Tweets Racist Response to Philando Castile Settlement and Chao Xiong's Star Tribune's article, Girlfriend of Philando Castile sues Minnesota mayor for defamation after 'crack cocaine' tweet.
McBroom tweeted that Reynolds would spend an $800,000 settlement she received following Castile's shooting death on drugs:
“She needs to come off County and State Aid Now that she has some cash. It’ll be gone in 6 months on crack cocaine.”
There's also the Faribault Daily News article, Sheriff's deputy sued over 'racist' tweets, in which editor Suzanne Rook notes:
The apparent suit comes just weeks after a Third District Court judge affirmed an arbitrator's finding that Rice County was justified in demoting McBroom for the tweets which were made while he was off duty. . . .
At the time, McBroom was a member of the Elysian City Council. He has since been elected mayor.
Now he's facing some substance abuse trouble of his own. In the Mankato Free Press, Kristine Goodrich reports in Elysian mayor charged with DWI, reckless driving:
The mayor of Elysian is accused of driving while intoxicated, traveling nearly 100 mph last month.
A special prosecutor filed charges against Thomas Edward McBroom Sr., 62, on Monday in Le Sueur County District Court. The former Rice County sheriff deputy is charged with gross misdemeanor DWI, misdemeanor reckless driving and petty misdemeanor speeding.
A Le Sueur County sheriff’s deputy stopped McBroom for going 97 mph in a 60 mph zone on Highway 60 the night of April 16, according to a court complaint.
McBroom told the deputy he had had one beer at a retirement party in Faribault and was speeding because he needed to go to the bathroom.
McBroom smelled of alcohol and was slurring his speech, the charges say. After reportedly failing multiple field sobriety tests, McBroom told the deputy he was the mayor of Elysian and a retired deputy.
After failing another test, McBroom admitted he had had five or six beers and “had too much,” the charges say.
A preliminary breathalyzer allegedly showed he had an alcohol concentration of 0.18 and a later test allegedly gave a reading of 0.17. . . .
McBroom last made headlines as the defendant in a civil defamation lawsuit filed by the girlfriend who livestreamed the fatal police shooting of Philando Castile. After Diamond Reynolds was paid an $800,000 settlement in 2017, McBroom tweeted the money would be “gone within six months on crack cocaine,” according to The Associated Press.
McBroom settled the lawsuit with Reynolds for an undisclosed amount last summer and issued a public apology.
We will let readers create their own reflections about the contrast between the fate of Castile and McBroom in traffic stops. We hope Mayor McBroom gets the help he needs with his alcohol problem.
Elysian is a city of 650 or so people in Le Sueur and Waseca Counties.
Photo: Thomas McBroom while still a member of the Rice County Sheriff's Department. Facebook photo, via Faribault County News.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.
NEW: I'm now on Venmo for those who prefer to use this service: @Sally-Sorensen-6
For sure his problems are bigger than being an alcoholic. I suspect this is the beginning of the story.
Posted by: nudoode | Jun 06, 2021 at 11:03 AM