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John Shaw, the city manager of Ferguson, has reportedly left his position with the city, as was reported by officials this evening.
According to Washington Post, Shaw has named the departure from his position as a resignation, and comes after the 100-page report was released by the Department of Justice that detailed systematic racial bias practiced by authorities.
The site reports:
The move, which Shaw called a resignation and the city called “a mutual separation agreement,” comes in the wake of a scathing Justice Department report that criticized Shaw and other Ferguson officials for the city’s discriminatory and predatory behavior toward citizens.
This change is the biggest fallout yet from the Justice Department’s report, and it is the second time in as many days that a key Ferguson figure cited in the report is leaving his position. On Monday, the Missouri Supreme Court said that a new judge would be taking over court cases in the city.
Shaw leaving his position is a major change in Ferguson, because the city manager is the city’s chief executive, one who supervises the police department, appoints the municipal judge and can serve indefinitely (or until the city council votes him or her out).
The Ferguson City Council, which has seven members, all voted unanimously to part ways with Shaw this evening, and released a statement:
“We appreciate John’s service and commitment to the city of Ferguson for the past eight years.”
“The City Council and John Shaw feel as though it is the appropriate time for the city to move forward as it begins its search for a new city manager.”
John Shaw also released a statement reading:
“I care deeply for this community, and I believe that with our coming municipal election it is the appropriate time for the city to experience change in its city manager.”
He also mentioned that he had issues with how the report asserted that racial bias was part of the city’s actions and decisions:
“I must state clearly that my office has never instructed the police department to target African Americans, nor falsify charges to administer fines, nor heap abuses on the backs of the poor,” he wrote. “Any inferences of that kind from the report are simply false.”
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SOURCE: Washington Post | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
