The Independent Commission directed by Gov. Janet Mills to investigate the facts surrounding the Oct. 25 mass shooting in Lewiston announced Monday that a public hearing initially scheduled for next week will be postponed.
Independent Commission Chairman Dan Wathen stated Monday that the hearing, originally scheduled for Dec. 14, will be rescheduled “as soon as possible.”
“It was our sincere intention to hold our next public hearing this week,” Wathen stated. “Unfortunately, the Commission is awaiting the receipt of key information we believe we need to help us paint the full picture before, during, and after that tragic day.”
“Commissioners remain actively engaged with the state police and others to get the information we need to fulfill our obligation to the people of Maine,” he added.
Established via executive order by Gov. Mills on Nov. 9, the seven-person Independent Commission — comprised of both legal and mental health experts — is charged with determining the facts surrounding the failures and oversights that lead up to and that followed the Lewiston shooting.
Those circumstances include the shooter Robert R. Card, Jr.’s mental health history and access to firearms, as well as any contact he had with military authorities and police.
[RELATED: Lewiston Shooter Robert Card’s Army Reserve Unit Was Filled with Cops…]
Card’s two-week stay at a psychiatric hospital over the summer after assaulting fellow soldiers in his Army Reserve unit and making threats to shoot up a military installation in Saco, have led many to questions over how Maine’s “Yellow Flag” law did not result in Card’s access to weapons being restricted.
Just weeks before Card shot and killed 18 people, law enforcement unsuccessfully attempted to conduct a welfare check at Card’s home in Bowdoin, and made contact with his brother in an attempt to keep the family’s firearms away from Card.
[RELATED: Cases Less Severe Than Robert Card Triggered Maine’s Yellow Flag Law Firearm Restrictions…]
The Independent Commission met for the first time on Nov. 20, introducing their staff and their plans for the coming months, as well as voting to request that Gov. Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey pursue the steps to grant the commission subpoena power.
Mills and Attorney General Frey announced later the same day that they will work to grant the commission subpoena power, pledging to “do all we can to ensure the Commission has the resources and powers it needs to discharge its fact-finding responsibilities fully and properly.”
The commission is exempt from Maine’s open records and proceedings laws, due to a provision of Mills’ executive order that specifically shields the Commission from the state’s Freedom of Access Act (FOAA).
A spokesperson for the commission told the Maine Wire that following the release of their final public report, the commission will be subject to FOAA — though there is no language in Gov. Mills’ order itself which references or dictates the expiration of the exemption.
At the commission’s first meeting, Chairman Wathen asserted that “[the commission’s] goal is maximum transparency,” but noted that the commission cannot yet make any promises regarding what information will or will not be made public.
[RELATED: Mills’ Secretive Lewiston Shooting Commission Has First Meeting…]
No information was provided in the commission’s Monday announcement regarding what the “key information” is that necessitated the postponement of their Dec. 14 hearing.
The date and time of the rescheduled hearing has not yet been announced.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="23828 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=23828">3 Comments
Translation- We, your Government, had all the tools in place to prevent this! Yet, somehow we need to find a way to blame the lawful gun owners of the state and put in place increased gun/ammo restrictions on the law abiding. We, of course, will admit NO wrong-doing on our part.
Nude picture of Mills was found inside of his skull.
First, the Commission should not be exempt from FOIA. Second, when are we ever going to hear anything from them?
This isn’t important to Governor Mills.