Ferguson prosecutor in probe of teen’s slaying is ousted
FERGUSON, Mo. — Four years after the deadly police shooting that triggered racial unrest in Ferguson and helped give rise to the Black Lives Matter movement, a black city councilman scored an election upset and ousted the white prosecutor criticized over his handling of the case.
Wesley Bell’s stunning defeat of seven-term St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch in Tuesday’s Democratic contest all but assures Bell of victory in November. The Republicans have not put up a candidate.
“People did not think it could be done,” the 43-yearold Bell said Wednesday. “The message we would tell people is, ‘You don’t have to believe it, yet, just support it.’ ”
Bell said what resonated with voters was his platform of reforms, such as holding police more accountable, revising the cash bail system and ending prosecution of low-level drug crimes. “The easy narrative is to say it’s just about Ferguson,” he said.
Still, the change began four years ago.
On Aug. 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old man, was shot to death by white Officer Darren Wilson after a street encounter led to a fight. Wilson said he fired in self-defense, while some witnesses said Brown had his hands up. The killing led to months of protests.
A St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict Wilson. Many protesters accused McCulloch of steering the panel to its decision. McCulloch, 67, has denied any effort to sway the grand jury.
The uprising in Ferguson fired the political ambitions of some of the black activists.
Bruce Franks Jr., who led several protests in Ferguson, defeated a longtime incumbent to win election to the Missouri House in 2016. Another protest leader, Cori Bush, lost Tuesday in her bid to unseat nine-term U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, but received 37 percent of the vote.
Bell received 57 percent to McCulloch’s 43 percent in St. Louis County.
“I think the Ferguson events certainly had something to do with this,” University of Missouri-St. Louis political scientist David Kimball said. “Certainly that case got a lot of attention and generated a lot of criticism of McCulloch, so I’ve got to believe that was a factor.”