How Jim DeRentis supported his husband as Brett Smiley led Brown response

On the night of the deadly shooting at Brown University, the investigation to find the perpetrator was immediately launched and a command center emerged in an unlikely spot: Mayor Brett Smiley’s living room.

This is the first time the historic College Hill brownstone blocks away from Brown’s campus have been used in this way, but the mayor’s husband, Jim DeRentis, explained that residents were happy to open their homes to weary first responders.

“Minutes passed before the police came through the front door. Obviously we live across the street. I could see the sirens,” he said. “I stood there and watched people methodically go through the arrivals and go about their business.”

In the following days the chief gentleman of the city continued to walk his dog every day in Cooke Street and Benevolent Street. He watched as the once quiet neighborhood transformed into a hub of activity, with local police and FBI agents combing the snow for clues, television cameramen standing by nearby and helicopters circling overhead.

“This is a quiet university town. Even though it is the capital, it is a relatively quiet place. This place is very foreign to the people who live here,” he explained.

While the mayor continued to work at City Hall, at the Providence Public Safety Complex or in the community, DeRentis did her best to assuage her neighbors’ concerns, assuring them that her husband and the entire law enforcement community were working non-stop and would not rest until they brought the perpetrator to justice.

DeRentis, a local real estate agent, did his best to support Smiley through long, tiring days.

“His own personal health was so far down the priority list that we had to step in at some points to say, ‘Come home now,'” she said, describing one particular late night. “He came home, I made him soup and put him to bed.”

This article was first published in The Providence Journal: Jim DeRentis opens up about his life with Brett Smiley during Brown investigation