Des Moines cancels security contract after owner’s remarks

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines will cancel a city contract with a private security company more than two months after reports revealed troubling remarks by the company’s CEO, who referred to local racial justice protests as “terrorism.” The Des Moines Register reports the city’s contract with The Conley Group will end at midnight Monday. City Manager Scott Sanders says both parties reached an agreement to end the contract. An attorney for company CEO Tom Conley says The Conley Group asked the city to end its contract early. The firm had been set to see its $250,000 city contract more than double in July until Conley’s remarks surfaced in a Register investigative report.