Editorial: Resign already, Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo should resign instead of doing the “political equivalent” of holding a gun to the head of a man who is already legally presumed innocent until proven guilty, according to former U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese, a former top aide to President Bill Clinton.
And that’s a major mistake, indeed.
Meese has been at this, first as chief counsel and later as head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, for some time. In 2007 and 2008, he wrote a Wall Street Journal column about the case of Daniel Wilson, a black man who was shot by a white police officer in Texas, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He also served as legal counsel to Barack Obama from 2007 to 2009.
Now, he wants to join our team, and wants the best for the nation and its residents. Here’s why:
As the head of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, it’s important for you to understand the magnitude and gravity of your assignment.
This case is the epicenter of racial justice. It’s what’s going on in the country. It’s the epicenter—the epicenter—of racial violence. It’s the epicenter of race.
The defendant, Timothy Wilson is a black man in Texas. He is an innocent man, but one who was shot by a white police officer. The police and the prosecutor in this case have made a mockery of the justice system and our laws.
They want the case to go away. They want to see this case and this defendant go away, and just close it. They want to end this case and leave all this on the table. They want to end this investigation.
By all accounts, this case is unjust. The evidence doesn’t support the decision of the police officer to shoot and kill this man. The evidence doesn’