Hispanic group calls for special prosecutor in Pasco, WA, police shooting
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
A Pasco, Washington, Hispanic group is asking Franklin County prosecutor Shawn Sant to step down as the investigator into police misconduct in the shooting death of Antonio Zambrano-Montes, an unarmed Mexican man on Feb. 10.
According to local TV station, KNDU, Consejo Latino on Tuesday sent Sant a letter requesting him to remove himself from the case and have Bob Ferguson, the state's attorney general, appoint a special prosecutor.
Consejo Latino says Sant has a conflict of interest because he's appeared at news briefings with the spokesman for a regional police unit investigating the shooting.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The group's chairman Felix Vargas told the station, "We question [Sant's] credibility. He's been part and parcel of the [police's internal] investigation. Mr. Sant is also a former police officer and he is normally the defender of the police in cases involved criminal activity.
Sant wasn't in his office early Thursday and didn't immediately return a message to the Associated Press seeking comment.
If the prosecutor rejects its request, the group says it will ask the governor to intervene.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Consejo Latino also has asked the Justice Department to investigate the shooting of Zambrano-Montes, a 35-year-old migrant farmworker.
Based on reporting by the Associated Press.