BALTIMORE (AP) - The Baltimore Office of the Inspector General has found that allegations a park ranger removed Black Lives Matter murals from a city space for “racially motivated” reasons were unsubstantiated.
The office launched an investigation after a complaint was filed in July alleging a ranger in Baltimore’s Patterson Park took down wooden panels with paintings showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement, even after the artists had secured permits and design approval, The Baltimore Sun reported.
The report, released Thursday, said the ranger - a seasonal employee - was fired, though his actions were not found to be “racially motivated.” The report did find the employee twice “engaged in actions while on-duty that were outside the scope” of his authority. Those actions were not detailed.
The report found the murals were not initially placed on an authorized artwork permit list given to rangers and were added later to an updated list which the ranger had not received, the report stated.
The office also received complaints that the same ranger made homophobic and racist comments to coworkers on the job, according to the report. Investigators wrote that they could not confirm whether that had happened due to a lack of corroborating statements and documentation.
The report did not name the ranger, but Anthony Ratajczak told The Baltimore Sun that he was the employee who was fired.
Ratajczak said the inspector general’s report proved the claims against him were “false.”
“I am not this person that everybody is portraying on social media,” the newspaper previously quoted him as saying.
The Recreation and Parks Department still planned to restructure its park ranger program following the incident, officials said. The department did not say what steps would be taken.
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