Last year, Daniel Cameron, Kentucky’s Attorney General and a Republican candidate for Kentucky governor, celebrated more than 50 law enforcement officers endorsing his campaign.
The only problem? As new reporting by the American Independent revealed today, at least half a dozen of those officers have been accused or charged with serious crimes or cases of misconduct, including sexual harassment and discrimination, violations of labor law, and witholding medical treatment from incarcerated people.
This is not the first time Cameron has been accused of mishandling cases of police misconduct. Notably, he faced widespread condemnation for his handling of the 2020 Breonna Taylor case. Following his investigation, whose results were widely criticized by groups like the NAACP and Kentucky voters, the officers who shot and killed Taylor were not charged.
The American Independent: Kentucky gubernatorial candidate touted endorsements from officers accused of misconduct
By: Nick Vachon | February 13, 2023
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Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed to run for governor early last month after receiving both former President Donald Trump’s endorsement and the support of more than 100 law enforcement officers. A closer look at the list of officers, however, shows that at least six of the endorsers have been accused of wrongdoing, including litigation against them for workplace sexual harassment, incidents of inmates dying at jails they ran, and jury-validated claims of professional retaliation.
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One of Cameron’s endorsers, former Lincoln County Jailer Rob Wilson, was accused by eight employees of sexual harassment and sexual discrimination in 2019. According to the complaint filed by the employees, Wilson “engaged in a continuous and repeated course of conduct constituting sexual harassment and sexual discrimination, as well as quid pro quo sexual activities to the legal and physical detriment of the plaintiffs.”
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Another of Cameron’s supporters, Hopkins County Jailer Mike Lewis, was accused by an employee of violating state wage and work hours laws, the Kentucky Civil Rights Act, and the Kentucky Whistleblower Act, creating a hostile workplace, and wrongful termination. The employee, Jarrett Backhurst, said that Lewis relied on nepotism by hiring family members to staff positions in the jail, and that he had required employees of the jail to attend Lewis’ campaign events when he was running for reelection.
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Another endorser is facing multiple lawsuits: former Whitley County Jailer Brian Lawson is currently being sued by the family of a man who died at the jail as well as by a man who said he was sprayed with mace, assaulted, and denied medical attention, including access to prescription medication, by jail staff.
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Cameron, who was elected attorney general in 2019, has faced criticism for his handling of police misconduct before. As attorney general, he led Kentucky’s investigation into the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was fatally shot by Louisville police during a no-knock raid on her apartment. During the raid, police failed to identify themselves before firing into Taylor’s apartment. The investigation by Cameron’s office resulted in no charges being filed against the officers involved, and was criticized by some in the state, including the Louisville NAACP, which called on him to resign.
Read the full report here.
Published: Feb 14, 2023