Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has called for the formation of a panel to study the social and economic conditions that have fueled ongoing unrest in the wake of this summer’s killing of Michael Brown Jr. by a police officer in Ferguson.
Nixon announced plans for a so-called Ferguson Commission on Tuesday during remarks at the Florissant Valley Community College, not far from where Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9.
Nixon said the commission would conduct a “thorough, wide-ranging and unflinching study” on the conditions underscored by the fallout to Brown’s death, would tap experts to address concerns identified by the commission and offer specific recommendations for making the region “a stronger, fairer place for everyone to live.”
The governor said he plans on announcing selected committee members next month. “This work is not for the faint of heart,” Nixon told an audience of elected officials, educators, business and community leaders. “Make no mistake, there will be anger and conflict, fear and distrust. The enemies of change will not easily yield to reasoned voices calling for a stronger, more united region. But to move forward, we must transcend anger and fear. We must move past pain and disappointment.”
“We must open our hearts and minds to what others have seen, what others have lived, and respect their truth,” he said.
The governor’s remarks are somewhat of a departure from his rather aloof prior stance on Ferguson, for which he has been widely criticized for being absent and impotent in the fallout from Brown’s killing.
The governor has been blasted by supporters of Brown for refusing to replace St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch, whom they say is incapable of fairly prosecuting a police officer, with a special prosecutor. He’s also been criticized for not visiting Ferguson in the first tumultuous days of protests, instead keeping his normal schedule which included attending a country music concert and the state fair.
Mervyn Mercano, a spokesman for a collaborative of activists under the banner Ferguson October, called Nixon’s formation of the commission “more empty promises.”
“Governor Jay Nixon has failed for the past two months to stand with communities calling attention to a badly broken criminal justice system,” Mercano said in a statement, noting Nixon’s refusal to appoint a special prosecutor and not halting the use of tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse peaceful crowds.
Mercano called the announcement of the commission, which he described as “politically toothless,” yet another failure.
“He has ensured the commission’s irrelevancy by excluding a review of police practices or broader issues in the criminal justice system out of its scope,” Mercano said.
Local activist and rapper Tef Poe, who has emerged as one of the young leaders of the months-long protests, said the governor had a huge opportunity to lead but instead “dropped the ball.”
“After the unrest of late ’60s, elected officials started all types of commissions. Fifty years later we’re still being killed by the police,” said Tef Poe.
