Nixon faces criticism from lawmakers on Ferguson decisions

Thursday, House leadership said Governor Nixon needs to open up and testify.

They want to hear his reasoning behind the state’s response to the Ferguson unrest directly following the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case.

House Speaker John Diehl said the governor needs to open up about the response.

ABC 17 News spoke to Diehl Thursday about Wednesday night’s committee hearing on government accountability.

Diehl said Governor Nixon should be completely transparent with lawmakers and the citizens of Missouri.

“I think it’s important that facts come out. I think it’s important that everyone be completely candid and full disclosure, and I’d advise the Governor what I said almost 60 to 90 days ago. Come out, come down and testify and give the full account of what happened,” said Diehl.

At its first hearing last night, the Joint Committee on Governmental Accountability heard testimony from Ferguson’s mayor among others in regard to the state’s response after the grand jury’s decision.

Governor Nixon is facing criticism from both parties, some lawmakers saying the National Guard should have been stationed in Ferguson directly after the decision came down.

Nixon has said that 700 guardsmen were at nearly 100 locations, including the Ferguson command post.

House Minority Leader Jake Hummel (D.-St. Louis) said he stands by the Governor’s decisions.

“If you look at the video, there were plenty of police on the ground. Certainly, I understand where the firefighters were coming from. They felt like they weren’t properly protected and I can’t speak to that, just what you see on the video. We also didn’t want another Kent State,” said Hummel.

More testimony is expected from the committee, but a hearing date has not been set.