Former Gov. Greitens delivers masks to KC police. Where he got them is not clear
Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens spent Monday and Tuesday dropping off protective masks at the Kansas City Police Department and public safety agencies around the state.
The masks are desperately needed to protect officers during the COVID-19 pandemic. But how Greitens was able to procure them during a national shortage remains unclear.
“He just showed up with them,” said Kansas City Police spokesman Jacob Becchina in an email after the former governor delivered 500 masks to department headquarters Tuesday. “We can certainly use them at this time.”
Becchina was not sure how Greitens obtained the masks or “how we would know that.”
The masks were paid for by the St. Louis Fire Department Foundation after Greitens contacted donors and connected with a supplier, according to a Greitens staff member. Greitens For Missouri, the former governor’s campaign committee, had no role in the purchase.
The delivery in Kansas City occurred a day after Greitens received television coverage for his delivery of masks to the St. Louis Fire Department.
It’s one of his highest-profile appearances since stepping down as governor in 2018 in the face of multiple scandals.
St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson told KMOX that Greitens reached out to the department last week asking how he could help.
“He got some donors together. He put the money into the St. Louis Fire Department Foundation. We got them here quickly,” Jenkerson told KMOX.
Laura Keller, executive director of the St. Louis Fire Department Foundation, told The Star the foundation spent roughly $81,000 to purchase 12,000 masks at $6.80 a piece.
The bulk of the masks stayed in the St. Louis area — split between the fire and police departments — while the rest were distributed around the state.
“We got donations through Mr. Greitens, not from him but from people he contacted that aren’t regular donors to the foundation. We purchased as many masks as we could afford with the donations,” Keller said.
“They donated directly to us, but they came through Mr. Greitens’ connections,” Keller said, noting that St. Louis’ billionaire Busch family was among the donors.
Greitens obtained an additional 3,000 masks on top of the initial order of 12,000, which were distributed around the state, according to his staff.
The Cass County Sheriff’s Office said Dylan Johnson, who worked on Greitens 2016 campaign and in his administration, arranged for the office to get masks.
“I spoke with a staffer of Eric Greitens (Dylan Johnson) who I have known personally and the Johnson family for a long time. I had heard that the he mask and were donating them to agencies and contacted him,” Captain Tieman said in an email Tuesday.
“He was able to provide us with 450 of the N95 masks that we will use for our deputies and first responders here in Cass County. Greitens delivered the mask today.”
Greitens said on Twitter that he had also received requests from police departments in Harrisonville and Raytown among other Missouri agencies. The Harrisonville Police Department posted a photo of officers standing with Greitens Tuesday and thanked him for the needed supplies.
“In this hard time, it’s good to remember how strong we can be together,” Greitens said on Twitter Monday evening.
“Last weekend I started getting calls from firefighters, police officers and first responders around the state. For weeks, the masks they were promised hadn’t come. We got to work.”
Greitens’ critics slammed his St. Louis appearance as a publicity stunt at a time when public health officials have advised social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus.
“I am offended that he put our first responders in danger for a damned photo op,” said Jane Dueker, who served as chief of staff for former Democratic Gov. Bob Holden.
The deliveries coincided with Missouri’s March 31 candidate filing deadline and come after weeks of speculation that Greitens might attempt a political comeback and challenge his successor, Republican Gov. Mike Parson.
Greitens did not file before the 5 p.m. deadline.
Greitens, a Republican from St. Louis, stepped down as governor after facing multiple criminal cases and a Missouri legislative investigation.
The felony indictments against Greitens for invasion of privacy and computer tampering were ultimately dropped. But Missouri lawmakers found credible allegations of violent sexual misconduct on Greitens’ part and had begun the impeachment process before Greitens announced his resignation in May of 2018.
Jason Hancock reported from Columbia.
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 6:45 PM.
