Gov. Nixon Denounces Release of Tape: Put Ferguson ‘On Alert Again’

Embattled Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (D) told Meet the Press guest host Andrea Mitchell that nobody was aware the police would release surveillance footage reportedly showing Michael Brown robbing a convenience store before he was shot, and that he “disagreed deeply” with the decision. Both Nixon and Mitchell agreed that the footage rekindled tensions that had died down after the replacement of local police with highway patrol.

“We and our security team and the highway patrol did not know that was going to be released, and quite frankly I don’t think the Attorney General knew,” Nixon said. “To disparage the character of this victim in the middle of a process like this is not right. Secondarily, it did put the community, and quite frankly the community and the nation, on alert again.”

RELATED: DOJ Reportedly Asked Ferguson Police Not to Release Robbery Video

However, Nixon refused to say whether he would order Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson to step down.

Watch the clip below, via NBC News:

[Image via screengrab]

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