Nine former Michigan employees, including the former governor. Rick Snyder was charged on Thursday for his roles in the Flint water crisis in a case a prosecutor said he was about “finally, finally, holding people accountable”.
Snyder, 62, and eight others who worked with him face a series of accusations stemming from a 2014 water supply change that exposed Flint residents to dangerous levels of lead and legionnaire’s disease.
“Let me start by saying that the Flint water crisis is not a relic of the past,” Attorney General Fadwa Hammoud told reporters. “Right now, the people of Flint continue to suffer from the categorical failure of civil servants at all levels of government who have trampled on their confidence and have escaped responsibility for a long time.”
State Attorney General Dana Nessel appointed Hammoud and Wayne County Attorney Kym Worthy to investigate the case, rejecting previous allegations filed by his predecessor, Bill Schuette.
Nessel is a Democrat and Schuette, a Republican like Snyder, ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2016.
“This case has nothing to do with partisanship,” said Worthy. “It has to do with human decency, the complete abandonment of the people of Flint and, finally, finally, holding people accountable.”
“Pure and simple,” she added, “this case is about justice, truth, responsibility, poisoned children, lost lives, destroyed families that are not yet whole and simply caring for all of humanity.”
On Thursday, during a virtual appearance before Genesee County Judge Christopher Odette, Snyder pleaded not guilty to the two misdemeanor accusers.
Odette set the bail at $ 10,000 and ordered Snyder not to travel outside Michigan until at least his next court hearing, scheduled for Tuesday.
The former two-term governor spoke to the judge in a booth inside the county jail, where he wore a mask and sat next to his defense attorney, Brian Lennon.
Lennon called the Snyder case “fragile” and said “the whole situation is intriguing”.
“It would be a scam to waste additional taxpayer dollars in pursuing these false misdemeanor charges,” he said in a statement.
Former Michigan health director Nick Lyon was accused of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of nine people who contracted the Legionnaire’s disease. He also pleaded not guilty on Thursday.
The other accused state officials were:
- Former Michigan medical chief executive Dr. Eden Wells was also charged with nine counts of involuntary manslaughter, along with two counts of misconduct in office and one of willful negligence of duty.
- Richard Baird, who served as senior adviser to Governor Snyder, accused of perjury, misconduct in office, obstruction of justice and extortion.
- Jarrod Agen, Snyder’s former communications director, accused of perjury related to his testimony to state prosecutors.
- Darnell Earley, charged with two counts of misconduct on the job based on his job as a state-appointed emergency manager in Flint.
- Another former emergency manager, Gerald Ambrose, accused of several charges of misconduct in office.
- Howard Croft, Flint’s former director of public works, charged with two counts of intentional neglect of duty.
- Nancy Peeler, who was previously the manager of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ early childhood section, was charged with two counts of misconduct in office and one of willful negligence of duty.
Residents of the mostly black city of Flint struggled for years to recover as they depended on bottled water as their main source of clean water, and the value of their properties was damaged.
Today, tests show that Flint’s water is safe to drink, but many residents, skeptical of government officials, say they still don’t trust city water.
The Snyder administration in 2014 moved Flint from the Detroit water system to the Flint River in an effort to cut costs. This change was disastrous, exposing Flint residents to lead contamination from untreated river water from the new supply.
Michigan agreed to a $ 600 million settlement in August in a class action lawsuit with Flint residents whose health was affected, establishing a fund from which residents can claim compensation.
