{"id":161,"date":"2014-11-16T04:06:28","date_gmt":"2014-11-16T09:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cogic.org\/publicpolicy\/?p=161"},"modified":"2014-11-26T18:53:35","modified_gmt":"2014-11-26T23:53:35","slug":"cogics-letter-to-governor-nixon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogic.org\/publicpolicy\/2014\/11\/16\/cogics-letter-to-governor-nixon\/","title":{"rendered":"COGIC’s Letter to Governor Nixon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNovember 13, 2014
\n\tThe Honorable Jay Nixon
\n\tGovernor of Missouri
\n\tP.O. Box 720
\n\tJefferson City, Missouri  63103\n<\/p>\n

\n\tDear Governor Nixon:\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe tragic shooting of Michael Brown is extremely troubling to us. As an organization that has invested over $ 140 million dollars in the St. Louis regional economy over the past four years, with the likelihood of investing an additional $150 million dollars over the next four years, we feel especially obligated to urge that steps be taken to ensure that there will be justice in the Michael Brown shooting and<\/em> that necessary systemic changes will be made that reduce the likelihood of situations like those listed below happening again:

\n\t \n<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n\t\tThe alleged circumstances surrounding his shooting;\n\t<\/li>\n
  2. \n\t\tThe fact that the body of a teenager was left lying in the street for over four hours;\n\t<\/li>\n
  3. \n\t\tThe militaristic response by law enforcement to individuals exercising their first amendment right to peaceful protest;\n\t<\/li>\n
  4. \n\t\tThe fact that law enforcement officers removed their name badges during protests so as to remain anonymous;\n\t<\/li>\n
  5. \n\t\tWhat clearly looked like an effort by the Ferguson Police Chief to poison public opinion by releasing edited video tape about a totally unrelated event;\n\t<\/li>\n
  6. \n\t\tThe unprecedented time it took to make public the name of the involved officer;\n\t<\/li>\n
  7. \n\t\tThe fact that a police report has still not been made public as required by law;\n\t<\/li>\n
  8. \n\t\tThe fact that law enforcement was seen wearing bracelets that say ‘I am Darren Wilson<\/em>’ while positing  that the public wait for the completion of the process before drawing conclusions;\n\t<\/li>\n
  9. \n\t\tThe seemingly inordinate amount of time that it has taken to determine if Officer Wilson should be prosecuted; and,\n\t<\/li>\n
  10. \n\t\tThe additional shootings in St. Louis of which at least one appears to have resulted from inappropriate use of deadly force.\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \n\tAn understanding of your plans to ensure justice is achieved and to make needed systemic changes will be helpful in our deliberations.  We await your expeditious reply.\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tSincerely,\n<\/p>\n

    \n\t\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tBishop Charles E. Blake, Sr.
    \n\tPresiding Bishop and the General Board
    \n\tThe Seventh in Succession
    \n\tCHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST, INC.\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tSenator Claire McCaskill
    \n\tMissouri\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tThe Honorable Francis G. Slay
    \n\tMayor, City of Saint Louis\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tThe Honorable James Knowles, III
    \n\tMayor, City of Ferguson\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tMr. Charlie A. Dooley, County Executive
    \n\tSt. Louis County, Missouri\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tMs. Kathleen M. Ratcliffe, President
    \n\tSt. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tMr. Thomas J. Irwin, Executive Director
    \n\tCivic Progress\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tThe General Board<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    November 13, 2014 The Honorable Jay Nixon Governor of Missouri P.O. Box 720 Jefferson City, Missouri  63103 Dear Governor Nixon: The tragic shooting of Michael Brown is extremely troubling to us. As an organization that has invested over $ 140 million dollars in the St. Louis regional economy over the past four years, with the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-3","description-off"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t