Missouri Democratic Governor Jay Nixon ordered the Missouri National Guard not to patrol Ferguson during the first night of destructive riots after police officer Darren Wilson’s grand jury exoneration in the Michael Brown shooting case.
Businesses were burned that November night and 20-year old DeAndre Joshua was shot to death in a burned car.
St. Louis-based radio and television newscaster Jamie Allman flagged a buried lede in a January 9 Associated Press article that discussed Nixon’s plan. The Gateway Pundit highlighted text from the article, which described a meeting in which top Missouri officials, including Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, convened and talked about getting Ferguson police chief Tom Jackson to resign.
“Also, records provided to AP under an open records request include a Nov. 10 email from St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar to an assistant that describes an apparent meeting of state and local officials. It references the potential timing of Jackson’s ‘separation’ and identifies a potential successor……The email lists several names of apparent attendees: McCaskill, Koster, Slay, Rainford, Diehl, Doyle, then-St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley and U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay.
“The email also made reference to a request to Gov. Jay Nixon to place the National Guard in front of Ferguson police headquarters on the date of the grand jury announcement. ‘Apparently the guard will not move to the FPD per the governor,’ the email said.
“Knowles and others were critical of the decision not to have the Guard in place in Ferguson at the time of the announcement, after a dozen area businesses were destroyed in fires during protests.”
Republican Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder previously speculated on Fox News that Nixon or Eric Holder’s Justice Department might have kept the National Guard out of Ferguson that night.