State lawmakers probe Guard troops use at Ferguson

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri lawmakers vowed an aggressive investigation Thursday into why Gov. Jay Nixon did not use National Guard troops to prevent angry crowds from burning and looting businesses in Ferguson, Missouri, when a grand jury decision was announced in the police shooting of Michael Brown.

Meeting for the first time, members of a House and Senate investigative committee pledged to use subpoenas, if necessary, to compel members of Nixon's administration to testify and turn over documents about security decisions in the St. Louis area.

A St. Louis County grand jury decided Nov. 24 not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who is white, for fatally shooting the unarmed black 18-year-old during a confrontation in August. Moments after the announcement, some protesters began looting and setting fires to businesses and vehicles in Ferguson and the nearby suburb of Dellwood, Missouri.

Nixon had declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard several days before the grand jury announcement.

His executive order said the Guard would aid police and help "protect life and property."

Although Guard members were stationed elsewhere in the St. Louis area, none were positioned outside businesses along a prominent Ferguson road where looting and arson had occurred after Brown's Aug. 9 shooting.

State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, who is a member of the legislative panel, said Nixon should apologize "for his lack of leadership" in Ferguson and resign from office. Nasheed said she wants to hear from leaders of the state Department of Public Safety and Highway Patrol, as well as others in Nixon's administration.

"Someone dropped the ball and we need to know who, when, where and why," said Nasheed, D-St. Louis, who has participated in the Ferguson protests.

State Sen. Eric Schmitt said the legislative committee plans to focus on "why the National Guard was not in Ferguson when one of our communities was burning."

"It is my understanding and my hope that this committee will follow every lead ... until we find out the truth as to why that happened," said Schmitt, R-Glendale.

Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said more than 700 Guard members were sent to nearly 100 locations in the St. Louis region on Nov. 24, and there were nearly 500 law enforcement officers in Ferguson. He said the plan was for the Guard to be stationed in "support roles" in such places as police and fire stations and power substations so that more police could be in the protest areas.

Asked last week about the Guard's use in Ferguson, Nixon told reporters in Cape Girardeau that he had wanted police on the front lines rather than "bringing in the National Guard in full military garb straight onto those streets."

During demonstrations in August, local law enforcement had been widely criticized for using armored vehicles, rubber bullets and tear gas in what many described as a militarized response to protesters.

Nixon said he was "somewhat surprised by the amount of violence" on Nov. 24 and prioritized people's lives over property while deciding how to use the National Guard.

"When you have that many hundreds of people shooting guns and running throughout the area and looting, I think that it was important to preserve life, and I think all of the unified commanders, as well as the Guard folks, did a great job of that," Nixon said.

State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, was chosen as chairman of the Joint Committee on Governmental Accountability. He said state law gives the panel "very, very broad authority to compel anyone to come in and testify," including Nixon.