Calls are mounting for the resignation of Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner after a young man out on bond struck a teenager with his car, causing her to lose both her legs.
The suspect, Daniel Riley, had repeatedly violated the terms of his release, causing many St. Louisans and political leaders to ask why he was able to be out on the streets. Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said it was up to the judge in the case; the judge said it was her office's responsibility.
On Wednesday, Alderman Mike Gras called for Gardner's resignation, and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said she had "lost the trust of the people." Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey also demanded that Gardner resign. He also announced Thursday that his office had fild a petition for a quo warranto.Additionally, a bill in the Missouri House would allow Governor Mike Parson to appoint a replacement.
However, not everyone is calling for Gardner's resignation. Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis NAACP, said calls for her to resign by the AG and the President Pro Tem of the Senate — Caleb Rowden — are "unwarranted."
In a statement, Pruitt wrote, "Both offices are subject to conjecture and manipulation which has no polacein how either office conducts its business. I have provided both offices with a set of facts that at least provides a clearer picture of the adjudication of Mr. Daniel Riley and the manipulation of some members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department."
Pruitt denied the claim that the Circuit Attorney's office had never asked to revoke Riley's bond. He laid out a timeline of events, pictured below:
He also negated the claim that Gardner's office has a backlog of at least 3,000 cases, saying that "the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department in January 2023 dumped 800 low level cases (but embedded some more serious ones) on the Circuit Attorney's Office in an attempt to build on the narrative of backlog cases in support of their local control lobbying."
In contrast, the St. Louis Fraternal Order of Police released a statement thanking AG Andrew Bailey "for having the courage to stand up to Kim Gardner."
Read Pruitt's whole statement here.
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