Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan and City Council President Cliff Ponte traded barbs in rival press conferences Friday as the council’s vote to order an independent investigation into a police search warrant remains in question.

 

Mayor’s comments

At 1 p.m., Coogan shared that after writing to the city council about his intent to veto any actions authorized under the resolution to investigate Fall River police’s use of a search warrant to investigate an anonymous Facebook commenter, he reached out to Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, asking her to look into the matter.

 

Council president’s response

Ponte fired back at the mayor in a 2:30 p.m. press conference, repeatedly accusing the mayor of trying to obstruct the city council’s investigation.

 

“The city council is simply seeking to determine whether there was any abuse of power within the Fall River Police Department,” Ponte said. “We owe that to our residents. And just as importantly, we owe that to the many dedicated police officers who put their lives on the line every single day to protect this community.”

 

See more at wpri.com.