Ex-Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Charged for His Role in the Flint Water Crisis
Image: Bill Pugliano (Getty Images)
Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has been charged on two counts of willful neglect of duty for his role in the Flint water crisis, a disaster that exposed more than 100,000 residents of the majority Black city to contaminated drinking water.
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If convicted, Snyder faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine per charge, which seems pretty light for overseeing a hazard that killed 12 people and impacted the health of untold others.
Snyder headed the state in 2014, when officials decided to switch the source of the city’s drinking water from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River as a move to save money. Unfortunately, officials neglected to apply corrosion inhibitors, and as a result, lead from the aging pipes entered the water supply, leading residents to ingest extremely high doses of heavy metals.
Lawmaker Wants Better Whistleblower Protection
Michigan has statutory protections in place to protect whistleblowers. Many businesses have the whistleblower protection poster from the state stuck on a wall somewhere.
The protection basically protects you from retaliatory actions by an employer if you, “…report a violation or a suspected violation of federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations to a public body.”
Seems simple enough. But not so fast. A Republican State Representative has been on a mission to get state government employees legal protection regardless of whether a Democrat or Republican is holding the Governor’s job. Midland Republican Annette Glenn is now in her second term as a State Representative. She saw fellow Representatives overwhelmingly approve her idea to improve protection for state employees in the last session. But the State Senate failed to take up her legislation and it “died” from lack of action in the upper chamber.
FLINT, MI (WTVB) – It was a dramatic morning in Genesee County courtrooms as former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and eight other government officials were charged for their alleged involvement in the Flint water crisis.
Snyder has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty. The charge has a maximum penalty of up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,000.
Michigan Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud accused the former Governor of willfully neglecting Flint residents and that he failed to protect their health and safety.
Snyder’s attorney Brian Lennon called the case a travesty. He added in a written statement, “These unjustified allegations do nothing to resolve a painful chapter in the history of our state. Today’s actions merely perpetrate an outrageous political persecution.”
I m appalled. Flint activist says charges against ex-Michigan Governor Rick Snyder do not go far enough
WXYZ-TV
and last updated 2021-01-14 13:48:44-05
(WXYZ) â Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is facing two counts of willful neglect of duty following an investigation into the Flint water crisis.
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Snyder is the first Michigan governor charged with a crime in office in the state s history.
Back in 2014, Snyder and his team ordered Flint to switch off Detroit water to the Flint River to save money. Residents water supply became more corrosive and caused lead poisoning and later, an outbreak of legionnaires disease, killing several people.
Two former Michigan health officials have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of nine people who got Legionnaires’ disease during the Flint water crisis.
Prosecutors revisiting how the city’s water system was contaminated with lead and bacteria also hammered a key adviser to ex-Governor Rick Snyder with extortion and perjury crimes.
Snyder joined a parade of former state and local officials pleading not guilty in Genesee County courts. He is facing misdemeanour charges of willful neglect of duty in Flint in a case that was filed Wednesday night, the first governor or former governor in Michigan’s 184-year history to face charges related to time in that office.