Politics

Sharpton: Grand Jury Announcement ‘An Absolute Blow’

Al Weaver Reporter
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Appearing following the grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, civil rights activist Al Sharpton criticized Prosecutor Bob McCulloch’s handling of the case, while adding the decision was “expected,” yet a “blow” to many who wanted to “see a fair and open trial.”

“It was expected, but still an absolute blow to those of us that wanted to see a fair and open trial. I think that it is clear that even when you see a blow coming that you expected, it still hurts nonetheless,” said Sharpton. “We said from the beginning, we said we had little or no confidence in this prosecutor and called for federal intervention.”

Sharpton criticized McCulloch for not saying how many members of the grand jury voted for indictment, and how many did not, even though McCulloch made it known multiple times during the announcement that statute prohibits anyone from talking about the vote within the the grand jury.

“And he would very clearly and carefully not give whether this was a unanimous vote of the grand jury or not, because clearly if some in the grand jury voted for the indictment, what all that he claimed they saw, did it convince all of the members of the grand jury, and what is it that they saw,” Sharpton added.

The MSNBC host also announced he would be in Ferguson Tuesday to attend a press conference with Michael Brown’s parents at 11 a.m., adding there would be many rallies across the country.

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