— Today, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette
announced major new charges related
to the water crisis in Flint:
— Let me say that involuntary
manslaughter is a very serious crime.
— Schuette charged the state’s Health
and Human Services Director, Nick Lyon,
with involuntary manslaughter in
the death of 85-year-old Robert Skidmore,
who lived in a Flint suburb and
died during a Legionnaire’s outbreak
connected to the city’s lead water crisis.
— After allegedly being informed about
the growing legionellis situation in Flint,
Nick Lyon failed to inform the public
of this health threat...
— In fact,
Lyon allegedly knew about the outbreak
for a year before telling anyone.
Four other state officials,
who have already pled not guilty to lesser allegations,
were also brought up on
involuntary manslaughter charges,
including the city’s former
Emergency Manager, Darnell Earley—
the man at the helm when
Flint switched its water source.
That brings the total number of
current or former officials indicted to 17.
Lyon and four others could go to prison for 15 years,
and the indictments mark a
turning point in the Flint investigation—
it’s the first time government officials have been
directly linked to deaths of Flint residents.
The culpability only goes so far—
today, Schuette confirmed that he won’t
be charging Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.
— The fact that he's letting Governor Snyder
off the hook for manslaughter is appalling.
That man, the Governor,
since we have been under state control since 2011,
has been the single decision-maker for the city of Flint.
Every decision landed on his desk, and so he knew.
— Snyder and Schuette are both Republicans,
but they’ve frequently been on the
opposite sides of the Flint crisis.
There’s speculation that Schuette is
eyeing the governor’s mansion next year,
when Snyder term-limits out,
and the two men traded some
not-so-subtle political digs today—
when Snyder hit back at Schuette,
saying he had “full faith and confidence”
in the HHS Director,
and called on the AG to hurry up and give court dates
to people who’ve already been charged
with crimes against Flint.
— Everything that's happened to us
in Flint has been political.
People have died.
All of these deaths could have
been prevented if these people,
who are in charge of our public safety and our health,
did their job.
