Missouri governor confident justice will be served in Ferguson investigations

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said Sunday he’s confident justice will be served through the multiple investigations into the Aug. 9 shooting death of an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white police officer, but stopped short of giving full-throated support to the local prosecutor on the case.

The shooting death of Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson has sparked a wave of protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and around the country. Multiple investigations are underway and a grand jury is hearing evidence on whether or not to bring charges against Mr. Wilson.

Are you 1,000 percent confident St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch is the guy to do the job? Mr. Nixon was asked on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“Well, he’s a democratically elected by overwhelming numbers, and re-elected, and re-elected-“

But, interjected host Candy Crowley, are you confident in him?

“I am confident that with the dual investigations that ultimately justice will be served and I do believe that everybody has a duty to do here,” Mr. Nixon said. “I think all the folks around this appreciate fully the pressure and the watch that’s going on here, and I am hopeful that everyone is going to live up to those duties and do a good job moving forward.”

Some people have expressed concern about the impartiality of Mr. McCulloch, who has deep ties to the law enforcement community and whose father, a policeman, was killed by a black man.

Mr. McCulloch, for his part, has pledged to be fair and impartial in the process.

“I have absolutely no intention of walking away from the duties and responsibilities entrusted to me by the people of this community. I’ve done it for 24 years,” he said in a recent interview with radio station KTRS.

Mr. Nixon went on to say that Mr. McCulloch clearly has the experience and the imprimatur of being an elected official.

“You know, you don’t want to prejudge any of this,” he said. “I do know that everybody’s working hard. I think the Justice Department being involved, the local prosecutor being involved, the investigators being involved — there’s a lot of folks working on the street out there to make sure they get this one right, and I think that with that attention I think that they will move this case forward.”