Ferguson: Missouri Governor Discusses Mike Brown, Criticizes Security Video Release On ‘Meet The Press’

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon criticized the dissemination of a security video showing police-shooting victim Michael Brown in an unflattering light, saying Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson was wrong to release it. Nixon made the criticism while addressing the Brown shooting, the current situation in Ferguson and the police response there during the past week in appearances on an assortment of television talk shows Sunday morning: ABC’s “This Week,” CBS’ “Face the Nation,” CNN’s “State of the Union” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“The shooting of Michael Brown, a young 18-year-old, in his own hometown, shot down in the street, brought emotions out very raw, and appropriate. As we moved through the week, when we saw the militarization of police response, I thought the best thing to do was to bring the highway patrol in late in the week, bring in Captain [Ron] Johnson and get involved with a less hard look,” Nixon said on “State of the Union.”

Nixon declared a state of emergency in Ferguson Saturday, imposing a curfew beginning at midnight. “Thousands of people spoke last night, thousands of people marched, and not a single gunshot was fired by police last night,” Nixon said. Of course, there were several arrests made and one individual was shot by another demonstrator. “We are trying to use the least amount of force to provide people the ability to speak, while also protecting the property of the people of Ferguson,” the governor said. He will meet with his staff to further discuss the curfew Sunday.

During his appearance on “Meet the Press,” Nixon reiterated the need for the curfew and said the goal was to have justice served after the completion of dual investigations by the FBI and local authorities. Nixon also discussed the “overmilitarization” of the police force in Ferguson on “This Week” and criticized the release of the surveillance video on “Face the Nation.”

“I mean, when you release picture[s] and you clearly are attempting to besmirch a victim of a shooting, shot down in his own street, a young man, and at the same time you’re releasing information to try to make it, to tarnish him, then properly, there was a lot of folks that were concerned about that, and I do think it flamed it back up and has caused us to have to deal with some of that,” Nixon said on “Face the Nation.”

U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., said police need to increase diversity and develop relationships with the African-American communities they serve, Politico reported. “We have to have a national conversation about how police forces should interact with the African-American community,” Clay said on “State of the Union.”

On Saturday, the first photograph of Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed Brown, was released by Yahoo News: