City manager filmed trying to fire cop after being pulled over for speeding
Konawa City Manager Daniel Bruton launched into a tirade after he was stopped by a local police officer on July 14 for racing his truck down the road.
The bodycam footage showed the officer, only identified as Johnathan, pulling up behind Bruton's car as he stood on the road and screamed: 'I'm trying to get the water back on.'
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Bruton, 52, later revealed he was on his way to a water emergency in the city, but the officer continued with the traffic stop.
'OK, but let's slow down. Let's do it safely,' the officer told Bruton. 'This is my job, this is what I was hired to do.'
'Well, this is my job and I'm your boss! And I'm in a hurry,' Bruton replied.
'It doesn't matter, you have to obey the law like everybody else,' the officer said as Bruton went threatened him: 'You're about to not have a job.'
He then got back in his truck and continued to scream at the officer.
'Now, go get your a** back in the truck and go back to town,' he said, still pointing his finger at the officer.
'I'm trying to be respectful here,' the cop said as Bruton cut him off and shouted: 'I'm not being respectful!'
After his outburst, the officer let Bruton leave - but that was not the last he saw of the city manager. Bruton found the officer back at the station, where he continued to tell the cop off.
Further body cam footage showed Bruton in the doorway of the police station continuing to complain and threaten the officer.
'So, when these firemen and police officers are in a hurry to get somewhere - they're speeding. I was in a hurry to get somewhere,' Bruton said, adding: 'So, let me tell you something. When I got out of the truck and told you there was a water emergency, that's when you should've ended it.'
The officer responded: 'OK, not gonna end it right there. Listen to me, just because you're city manager...'
Bruton responded: 'I'm not saying that. I had a water emergency, OK? I promise you. me driving 35mph up a 25mph road is not that big a deal to me when the people in Konawa don't have no water.
'I'll explain this to you and I'll explain this to Bryan. If you have a problem with that, then you might as well pack your s*** and head out the door right now.'
'Listen to me,' the officer said before Bruton shouted: 'I'm not gonna listen to you! I'm your boss! You do what I say.'
'It doesn't matter, you can't break the law like that,' the cop responded.
'People break the law! If you got a problem with it then write me a f***ing ticket and then I'll deal with you in there,' Bruton went on.
The city manager then called someone to inform him he was going to fire the cop 'right now', adding that the officer 'still continued to run his mouth with me'.
The video ended with Bruton storming off after the officer said 'we're done'.
Bruton later told News4 he was 'ashamed' and 'embarrassed' of his actions that day.
He told the outlet: 'He just caught the brunt of that from a situation that day. I didn't mean anything towards him. He does a good job and I apologized to him, and I'm making a public apology to him now.
'I'm embarrassed by it, I'm ashamed of it. My family, I put them in this and I'm ashamed that the city had to even endure it. So I'm hoping that we can get past it and I can grow from it as well.'
Despite his apology, locals are livid with the way Bruton acted that day, with some calling for his resignation.
'He was only embarrassed and ashamed when it was made public we still need a new city manager,' one wrote on Facebook.
Another commented: 'It's funny how he's embarrassed now that the whole world can see what an absolute jerk he is. What a pathetic excuse for a human!'
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