Thread by @jtlarsen

NEW: @PeteButtigieg forced his black fire chief into retirement to replace him with the white stepson of a big Republican donor and fundraiser.

The chief had just been named Indiana Fire Chief of the Year and had twice the experience of his replacement:
tyt.com/stories/4vZLCH…

@PeteButtigieg Chief Howard Buchanon told me he helped Buttigieg win the support of South Bend's black community.

Two Hispanic candidates, who also had more experience than the white appointee, had helped Buttigieg win support in the city's Hispanic community.

@PeteButtigieg Buchanon tells me he met with Buttigieg and campaign manager Mike Schmuhl before Buttigieg took office, and they gave him no opportunity to address whatever dissatisfaction they might have had with his leadership.

@PeteButtigieg The new chief's stepfather had to step down from the public safety board due to the conflict of interest.

Campaign filings I obtained show he gave Buttigieg $500 the 2nd day he took donations, before he even announced. (I didn't even notice he doesn't even live in South Bend.)

@PeteButtigieg Kenny Marks led the firefighters union, which endorsed Buttigieg, and helped Buttigieg campaign.

Marks is also black. You can see him in this campaign photo next to Buttigieg, union members wearing the campaign t-shirts they provided.

@PeteButtigieg Here's Buttigieg describing his endorsement meeting with Marks in his audiobook.

Marks tells me "he fooled me" and that he's "embarrassed" that he's in the book.

@PeteButtigieg Marks says he's embarrassed because readers will only know him as a "large, black man" who endorsed Buttigieg while in reality he feels "used" in the book and says he fell for talk of diversity, inclusion, and transparency.

@PeteButtigieg I also hear about Lynn Coleman, fmr. asst. to the previous mayor, and one of the city's 3 black leaders at the time.

Neither he nor Buttigieg respond to my requests for comment, but I'm told that during the transition, Buttigieg ghosted Coleman and other staffers.

@PeteButtigieg Buttigieg and Mike Schmuhl (then- and now-campaign manager) ARE interested in talking to and potentially keeping on some of the previous mayor's staffers.

"Young, preppy people," fmr. mayoral assistant Tom Price tells me, telling me the phrase became a running joke.

@PeteButtigieg As @MRSmithAP reported, Buttigieg reached out to Buchanon after his demotion of the black police chief ignited an uproar.

I asked Buchanon what Buttigieg said when he was challenged on the lack of black and Hispanic representation in the new administration.

@PeteButtigieg @MRSmithAP Kenny Marks isn't the only black supporter in the book. Buttigieg doesn't give his last name, but I found "Cordell," who multiple people tell me helped Buttigieg make inroads with the black community.

Unlike others on the campaign, he didn't get a job in the new administration.

@PeteButtigieg @MRSmithAP (I'm not done with the thread, but I have to take a break to prep for today's edition of TYTI Daily.

I'll discuss and take questions about our new report, live, at 11:30am eastern. I hope you can join us at YouTube.com/TYTInvestigate….)

@PeteButtigieg @MRSmithAP You can check out today's TYTI Daily, in which I discuss this story and take questions, right here:



(and stand by for breaking news...)

@PeteButtigieg @MRSmithAP Nothing earth-shaking and the order can't go into effect yet (and will surely be appealed) but a judge today said South Bend must release all the secret police tapes from on or before Feb. 4, 2011.

According to city legal docs I've reported on, that would include this call:

@PeteButtigieg @MRSmithAP The judge's order, which doesn't seem to consider the presumably myriad recordings made that WEREN'T transferred to tape, is here:
documentcloud.org/documents/6760…

We’ll be posting videos of my interviews with Howard Buchanon and Kenny Marks on the @TYTInvestigates channel so please make sure you don’t miss them, subscribe now: YouTube.com/TYTInvestigate…