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Ferguson Manager is 5th Out After DOJ Report Alleging Bias

Published

10 years ago

March 11, 2015

Protestors block traffic outside the Ferguson, Mo., police department, Wednesday, March 4, 2015, in Ferguson. The Justice Department on Wednesday cleared a white former Ferguson police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old, but also issued a scathing report calling for sweeping changes in city law enforcement practices it called discriminatory and unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

JIM SALTER, Associated Press

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Five people in Ferguson have been fired or resigned under pressure in the week since the release of a Justice Department report alleging racial bias in the city police department and a profit-driven court system.

The latest to go was City Manager John Shaw, whose eight-year tenure in the St. Louis County town ended Tuesday when the city council voted 7-0 to approve a “mutual separation agreement.” His departure followed the firing of Municipal Court Clerk Mary Ann Twitty, the resignations of police Capt. Rick Henke and Sgt. William Mudd, and the Monday resignation of Municipal Court Judge Ronald Brockmeyer.

The St. Louis suburb has been beleaguered by unrest since a white police officer fatally shot unarmed, black 18-year-old Michael Brown last summer. Brown’s shooting prompted protests in the St. Louis area and across the nation, which escalated in November when a St. Louis County grand jury declined to bring charges against Officer Darren Wilson, who later resigned.

The Justice Department also cleared Wilson of civil rights charges in the shooting in a report released March 4. But that same day, the DOJ also issued a scathing report citing racial bias and profiling among police and alleging that the court system functioned as a money-making enterprise that particularly targeted the poor and minorities.

The report repeatedly cited Shaw’s role, as the city’s chief executive, in encouraging police to aggressively ticket motorists as a means to generate revenue.

Shaw, in a resignation letter, said that while he respected the Justice Department investigation, his office “never instructed the police department to target African-Americans, nor falsify charges to administer fines, nor heap abuses on the backs of the poor. Any inferences of that kind from the report are simply false.”

Mayor James Knowles said the city and Shaw “came to a mutual agreement that we wanted to move forward as a community.” A nationwide search for Shaw’s replacement will begin immediately, Knowles said.

The Justice Department findings also included racist emails. Twitty, Henke and Mudd were linked to those emails. All three were out of work by the end of last week.

The report led to a Missouri appeals court judge being tapped to replace Brockmeyer and overhaul the local court system. Knowles said Tuesday that city leaders are still evaluating the report before announcing full reforms. He said city leaders are expected to brief DOJ investigators again in about a week.

Tuesday’s meeting was relatively peaceful compared with many city council meetings in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. More than a dozen residents spoke, some in support of the city, other criticizing it. A few called for more personnel changes, including removal of Knowles and Police Chief Tom Jackson.

Things got briefly tense among the racially diverse audience of roughly 150 when Suzanne Schmidt, a white resident, expressed support for Wilson.

“A lot of people in this room owe Darren Wilson an apology,” Schmidt said to loud jeers. “That Justice report you’re basing your opinions on cleared him 100 percent.”

That prompted a shouting match with Danielle Morrison, a black resident, who said the confrontation wouldn’t have happened if the officer hadn’t targeted Brown because of his race.

“He apprehended him because he was a big black man,” Morrison said.

Since Brown’s death seven months ago, Knowles has been the public face and voice of Ferguson’s city government. But Shaw held the legal power to make personnel and policy changes in the police department — not Knowles, a part-time officeholder who earns less than $5,000 annually.

Shaw worked as city clerk and assistant to the city administrator in Shrewsbury, another town in St. Louis County, before coming to Ferguson.

Online biographies indicate that he grew up in north St. Louis County and lived in Ferguson before working for the city. He was honored in 2013 as a distinguished alumnus of a public policy administration program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, which is near Ferguson, and was listed as an adviser for the university’s student group for aspiring city managers.

Shaw, 39, had not addressed the shooting, protests, grand jury inquiry or Justice Department investigation until his resignation letter.

The DOJ report, in one instance, showed that Shaw responded to an email from Jackson about a record-setting month for court revenue — nearly $180,000 in February 2011 alone — with the exclamation, “Wonderful!”

And when Jackson told Shaw in January 2013 that municipal court revenue had exceeded $2 million the previous year, the city manager was similarly excited.

“Awesome!” he said, according to the federal inquiry.

___

Associated Press writer Alan Scher Zagier contributed to this report from St. Louis.

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Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

Published

1 day ago

November 1, 2024

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New Filing: Trump’s Attempts to Overturn 2020 Election Were Part of Private Scheme, Not Official Acts

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The filing reveals the extent of Trump’s interactions with figures such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and other senior officials, some of whose names were withheld. Trump persisted with a plan to undercut Joe Biden’s victory despite numerous warnings from people in his circle that his claims of a stolen election were untrue.

Published

4 days ago

October 29, 2024

Oakland Post

Jack Smith during a statement regarding the indictment of Donald J. Trump. (Wikimedia Commons)

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Special Counsel Jack Smith has delivered a powerful legal blow to former President Donald Trump, unveiling new evidence that the twice-impeached Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were part of a private scheme rather than actions taken in his official capacity as president.

In a 165-page legal brief unsealed Wednesday, Smith provided new details about Trump’s behind-the-scenes maneuvers to subvert the election, including pressure campaigns targeting key officials, attempts to create false electors, and private discussions with his vice president, Mike Pence.

The filing reveals the extent of Trump’s interactions with figures such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and other senior officials, some of whose names were withheld. Trump persisted with a plan to undercut Joe Biden’s victory despite numerous warnings from people in his circle that his claims of a stolen election were untrue.

Smith’s brief is part of a broader strategy to prove that Trump can face trial for his actions, even after a Supreme Court ruling granted him immunity for official acts as president. The special counsel argues that Trump’s efforts to enlist Pence in blocking Congress’s certification of the election results were part of a private, illegal campaign to retain power, not part of his official duties.

“At its core, the defendant’s scheme was a private criminal effort,” Smith wrote in the filing. “In his capacity as a candidate, he used deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.”

The document provides new evidence of Trump’s attempts to sway election officials in critical swing states to alter the results in his favor. The brief quotes a lawyer advising Trump, who gave an “honest assessment” that his claims of widespread fraud would not withstand scrutiny in court. Yet, Trump dismissed the warning. “The details don’t matter,” Trump said, according to the filing.

Further, the brief recounts private conversations between Trump and Pence, in which Pence urged Trump to accept defeat and consider another run in 2024. Trump, however, expressed reluctance, saying, “2024 is so far off.”

Smith’s filing depicts Trump’s actions as part of a desperate and illegal campaign to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. The brief also points to Trump’s reliance on Giuliani and other private allies in his election subversion attempts, asserting that none of these efforts fell under the scope of presidential duties.

“The defendant asserts that he is immune from prosecution for his criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election because, he claims, it entailed official conduct,” the filing reads. “Not so. Although the defendant was the incumbent president during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one.”

A sealed appendix to the legal brief contains FBI interviews, search warrant affidavits, and grand jury testimony that might soon become public. Smith’s filing builds on the indictment released last year, expanding the evidence and reinforcing the argument that Trump’s conduct was criminal and not shielded by presidential immunity.

Smith concluded the brief with an explicit request to the court: “The government respectfully submits that the defendant’s conduct described in this motion is not subject to presidential immunity and that he should face trial for his private acts of subversion.”

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Special Interview: Rep. Barbara Lee Discusses Kamala Harris’ Plan for Black Men

On Oct. 16, California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Harris-Walz campaign surrogate, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), who shared more insights on Harris’ agenda and the importance of securing the Black Male vote. “She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.” The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour.

Published

5 days ago

October 28, 2024

Oakland Post

(File Photo) U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-13-Oakland) chides Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States for voting to strike down Affirmative Action. She is shown here speaking in front of the California Reparations Task Force in Oakland on May 6, 2023. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey. By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Last week, the Kamala Harris campaign released its Opportunity Agenda for Black Men.

“She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.”

The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour:

Provide 1 million loans that are fully forgivable to Black entrepreneurs and others disadvantaged groups to start businesses.
Champion education, training, and mentorship programs that help Black men get good-paying jobs in high-demand industries It will also develop more accessible pathways for Black men to become teachers.
Support a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and other digital assets so Black men who invest in and own these assets are protected.
Launch a National Health Equity Initiative focused on Black men that addresses sickle cell disease, diabetes, mental health, prostate cancer, and other health challenges that disproportionately impact them.
Legalize recreational marijuana and creating opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in this new industry.

“[Vice President Harris] knows that Black men have long felt that too often their voice in our political process has gone unheard and that there is so much untapped ambition and leadership within the Black male community,” the language in the agenda states. “Black men and boys deserve a president who will provide the opportunity to unleash this talent and potential by removing historic barriers to wealth creation, education, employment, earnings, health, and improving the criminal justice system.”

Diving into Harris’ agenda, Lee says, reminded her of her own record of supporting Black men over the years as an elected official. In the 90’s, she established the first California Commission on African American Males through which she pressured the state to address urgent economic, health and social challenges specific to Black men.

“No group of people are a monolithic group of people,” said Lee She’ s not taking any vote for granted. I’ve known her over three decades and I believe she is being herself. She’ s authentic,” Lee added.

Each of the 5 key points addressed in the Harris Campaign’s agenda, Lee says, has additional clauses that can potentially help Black men and their families thrive. This includes lowering rent; up to $25,000 in downpayment help for first time homebuyers; and cutting taxes for Black men in lower-wage jobs by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit maximum to $1,500.

“I think the messages is one of empowerment for Black men — regardless of whether they’ re a blue-collar worker, if they’ re not working, if they’ re in business, if they’ re an entrepreneur, whatever background or whatever they’re doing or experiencing life. I think the authenticity of their experience can only be articulated through them,” said Lee.