MoveOn Petition: Appoint a Special Prosecutor to Investigate the Murder of Michael Brown

[Faryn Balyncd]

Today's email brings the following from MoveOn member and Missouri State Senator Jamilah Nasheed:

"Dear MoveOn member,

I'm Missouri State Senator Jamilah Nasheed, a MoveOn member in Saint Louis, Missouri, and I started a petition to Robert P. McCulloch, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney, which says:

. . . . "

Appoint a Special Prosecutor to Investigate the Murder of Michael Brown


Petition by Missouri State Senator Jamilah Nasheed


To be delivered to Robert P. McCulloch, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney


The death of Michael Brown at the hands of Ferguson, MO police has stoked tensions and caused unrest across our community, state, and nation. This racially charged climate demands an independent, impartial investigation that the St. Louis County Prosecutor's office simply cannot provide.
There are currently 69,237 signatures. NEW goal - We need 75,000 signatures!
Petition Background
Bob McCulloch must fully recuse himself and his office from the investigation related to the murder of Michael Brown. 


McCulloch's decision not to charge officers who murdered two unarmed African-American men in 2000 by shooting into their car 20 times, especially in the face of the U.S. Attorney's independent investigation finding that those officers lied about their actions, gives us no confidence that his office can provide a fair and impartial investigation into this current matter. 


That failure, coupled with McCulloch's recent participation in one of the most racially polarizing elections in the history of St. Louis County, means that his office's continued oversight of this tragedy will only sow further distrust and discord in our community. 


For the good of the entire St. Louis region and the nation as a whole, we call on Robert P. McCulloch to recuse himself and his office from this matter and to appoint a special prosector to investigate the murder of Michael Brown.


http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/appoint-a-special-prosecutor

[lunasun]

1. Sign this !!!there are even more reasons to recuse although off the cuff

Everyone in his family is on the county police dept.! I don't know if having all those family members would count
but even if not
the reasons stated in the petition should be enough
plus he has spoken out on the case already on record

[Trillo]

2. Thank you.

Signed it a day or two ago! As of yesterday:

Thank you for signing my petition, Appoint a Special Prosecutor to Investigate the Murder of Michael Brown.

As of now, the petition has received 30997 signatures! To really make a difference, we need a lot more people to join in. Can you share this petition with all your friends?

[conservaphobe]

3. K&R... will sign and share. nt

[BlueCaliDem]

4. Signed!

[JEB]

5. Signed.

Hope this does some good.

[Faryn Balyncd]

6. Link to the extensive family ties between DA McCullock and PD:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025417240

[moondust]

7. Signed. n/t

[VanGoghRocks]

8. Not to be a nattering nabob of negativism, but the petition seems

addressed to McCulloch and calls upon him to recuse himself AND to appoint a special prosecutor. Can McCulloch appoint a special prosecutor? Wouldn't the MO Governor or MO state legislature have to do that?

McCulloch should, of course, recuse himself like yesterday.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. I think political pressure needs to be placed on the Governor Nixon and on Claire McCaskill

McCaskill virtually fellated McCulloch last night on the Lawrence O'Donnell show. Nixon hasn't even visited the scene that is now the focus of the nation and the world. These two don't even seem to remember that they're Democrats. These people in power need to know that they can't flip off the people this way.

[Trust Buster]

10. I see no reason for the prosecutor to recuse himself. He has been duly elected by.......

......the people since 1991. He has behaved much more objectively than the posters on this site that have already found this officer guilty without a proper vetting of the evidence. Now that is a legitimate example of undue bias.

[Faryn Balyncd]

11. Well, for starters, here are 3 reasons to ponder:

(1.) McCulloch has unusually deep family ties to PD, including a police officer father killed in the line of duty when McCulloch was 12.


(2.) McCulloch recently chose to inject himself into the political spotlight with strident criticism of Gov. Nixon's decision to send in the Highway Patrol, accusing the governor of "denigrating" St. Louis County PD:

McCulloch blasts Nixon

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch Thursday night blasted the decision by Gov. Jay Nixon to replace St. Louis County Police control of the Ferguson situation with the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

“It's shameful what he did today, he had no legal authority to do that," McCulloch said. "To denigrate the men and women of the county police department is shameful."

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mcculloch-blasts-nixon-for-replacing-st-louis-county-police-control/article_0806541b-ed48-5d06-9267-323531ad6cf1.html





“He (McCulloch) injected himself in a matter in a way that further exacerbates the community distrust of him....Rather than stay focused on the investigation, the prosecuting attorney decided to wade over into a whole other area and challenge the governor. He inflamed the community, which already distrusts him.”

http://theobamacrat.com/2014/08/19/st-louis-county-prosecuting-attorney-bob-mcculloch-recuse-yourself/

(3.) McCulloch has a history of not prosecuting officers who kill unarmed suspects with multiple shots and falsely report the suspects moving toward them:

In 2001, two undercover drug officers from Dellwood shot and killed two men on the parking lot of a Jack in the Box in north St. Louis County. The officers said the suspects, who had prior felony convictions for drug and assault offenses, tried to escape arrest and then drove toward the officers.

A subsequent federal investigation showed that the men were unarmed and that their car had not moved forward when the officers fired 21 shots and killed the suspects, Earl Murray and Ronald Beasley. The probe, however, also concluded that because the officers feared for their safety, the shootings were justified.

McCulloch didn’t prosecute the officers. He specifically drew the ire of defense lawyers and protesters, who had been holding demonstrations and threatened to block Highway 40,when he said of Murray and Beasley, “These guys were bums.”


http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/st-louis-prosecutor-has-faced-controversy-for-decades/article_cdd4c104-6086-506e-9ee8-aa957a31fee5.html

Objectivity of prosecutor in Missouri shooting of Michael Brown is questioned
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/objectivity-of-prosecutor-in-missouri-shooting-of-michael-brown-is-questioned/2014/08/15/1fe20690-24bc-11e4-958c-268a320a60ce_story.html



St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch, Recuse Yourself.
http://theobamacrat.com/2014/08/19/st-louis-county-prosecuting-attorney-bob-mcculloch-recuse-yourself/

[Rhiannon12866]

12. Done!

[cleduc]

13. A copy of this petition should go to Governor Nixon

https://twitter.com/Lussenpop/status/502504602910982144/photo/1

[img][/img]

I guess I might add, be careful what you wish for ... hopefully, we get a better choice.

[sadoldgirl]

14. Thanks, done!

[elias49]

15. Signed.. n/t