City Manager Harasses Police Chief Over Trump Flag, Ends Up Learning Painful Lesson in Local Politics

A local government leader in West Boylston, Massachusetts, lost his job after sparring with the police chief over a flag honoring President Donald Trump.

The incident stemmed from West Boylston Town Administrator James Ryan spotting a Trump flag inside the police gym facility, according to WBTS-CD in Boston.

Ryan then confronted West Boylston Police Chief Dennis Minnich, ordering him to take down the flag.

After Minnich complied, the town administrator reportedly sent someone to confirm that the flag had been removed, prompting Minnich to file a complaint over Ryan sending unauthorized personnel into the facility.

The select board of West Boylston voted by a decisive four-to-one margin to dismiss Ryan.

John Clifford, an attorney for the fired town administrator, said in a statement that the meeting was “not a hearing, as the outcome is a foregone conclusion.”

He accused the board of firing his client “based solely on Chief Minnich’s allegations.”

“I asked that Chief Minnich be present at this event to testify in support of his allegations and to be cross-examined,” Clifford said.

“I am informed Chief Minnich will not be produced as a witness, presumably because he has refused to do so and because the Select Board is unwilling to direct him to be there,” he added.

Clifford further asserted that “rather than discuss his concerns with the Town Administrator or seek a legal opinion as to whether it was appropriate to have such material in a public building, Chief Minnich elected to turn this into a political circus, embarrassing himself and West Boylston in the process.”

Residents of West Boylston were divided over the incident.

Lessa Ashwell told WBTS, she is “really incredibly disappointed and embarrassed by the behavior of the police chief.”

But Barbara Cardarelli countered that “there are better things Mr. Ryan can do to enrich our community.”

It’s worth noting that West Boylston is not even a particularly Republican area.

Trump received about 40.6 percent of the vote, falling significantly behind now-former Vice President Kamala Harris, who received 55.5 percent, according to the Worcester & Gazette.

But the local police department clearly has an affinity for the returning commander-in-chief.

Seeing that Massachusetts deals with self-induced public safety issues worsened by sanctuary policies and soft-on-crime prosecutors, it’s not hard to see why.

In any case, the fact that Ryan rather than Minnich lost his job over this scuffle shows that the politics of 2015 have no place in 2025.

Trump won, meaning that wokeness and cancel culture lost.

Time to let the Boys in Blue fly the banner of the “Orange Man.”

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