This post has been updated.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) on Sunday said he did not approve of the decision by police to release the video that allegedly shows Michael Brown robbing a convenience store.
“We were unaware they were going to release it it,” Nixon said on ABC’s “This Week” about the video. “We certainly were not happy with that being released, especially in the way that it was. It appeared to cast dispersions (sic) on a young man that was gunned down in the street. It made emotions raw.”
The governor then linked the increase in unrest in Ferguson on Friday and Saturday nights to the release of details about the robbery.
“And one of the reasons why, after the first night of bringing in the highway patrol and Captain Jackson, we had a pretty calm night that first night,” he said. “The second night, late we saw folks get upset and that’s why we got the curfew last night.”
The Department of Justice reportedly asked the Ferguson police department to delay the release of the robbery video.
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Nixon said that the release of the video did lead to the unrest on Friday and Saturday nights.
“To attempt to in essence disparage the character of this victim in the middle of a process is not right. It’s just not right,” he said. “And secondarily, it did put the community, and quite frankly the region and the nation, on alert again. These are old wounds. These are deep wounds in these communities. And that action was not helpful.”
NBC’s Andrea Mitchell asked if the Ferguson police would be held acountable for releasing the video.
“We’ve had very serious discussions about that action and how much we thought that it was not the right way to handle the victim’s family, which I had a chance to speak with,” Nixon responded. “They were deeply troubled, and when you see your son gunned down in the street and then you see a police chief begin an attempt to attack his character, that’s just not the way to operate.”
He means “cast aspersions.”
Presumably, the goal of the curfew was to cast dispersions.
Exactly!
I noticed that too, and would have bemoaned the decline of the English language, EXCEPT that this is the kind of “spell check” change you don’t catch when writing quickly.
And yet Police Chief Jackson is still there in his chiefly capacity. Now would be a good time for him to be fired or retired. He really needs to be gone.
P.S. The Guv refers to “Captain Jackson” when it is Captain Ron Johnson. The Police Chief is Tom Jackson.
Perhaps the governor could cast one of his dispersions in the direction of the Ferguson Police Chief.
I almost have to wonder if he released it out of spite to make the work of Captain Jackson fail. It is time for him to go.