The night of the fatal shooting at Brown University, an investigation to find the perpetrator kicked off immediately and a command center sprang up in an unexpected spot: Mayor Brett Smiley’s living room.
It was the first time that the historic College Hill brownstone blocks away from Brown’s campus was used in that way, but the inhabitants were happy to open their home to weary first responders, explained the mayor’s husband, Jim DeRentis.
“It was minutes before the police were walking through the front door. Obviously, we live across the street. I could see the sirens,” he said. “I just stood there and watched as people methodically went through what was coming in and did their jobs.”
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley.
In the days that followed, the city’s first gentleman continued walking their dog down Cooke Street and Benevolent Street each day. He watched the once sleepy neighborhood transform into a hub of activity where local police and FBI agents scoured the snow for clues, television cameramen waited readily nearby and helicopters circled overhead.
“This is a quiet college town. While it’s the capital city, it is a relatively tranquil place. This is so foreign to the folks that live here,” he explained.
While the mayor carried on working at City Hall, at Providence’s Public Safety Complex or out in the community, DeRentis did his best to quell worries from neighbors, assuring them that his husband and the entire law enforcement community were working nonstop and wouldn’t rest until they brought the perpetrator to justice.
DeRentis, a local real estate agent, did his best to support Smiley through the long, taxing days.
“His own personal well-being was so far down his priority list that we had to step in at points to say, ‘Come home now,” he said, describing one late night in particular. “He came home, I made him some soup and put him to bed.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Jim DeRentis describes life with Brett Smiley during Brown investigation
