The Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance – an influential group of African- American leaders who had been heavily courted by Republicans this year – on Thursday endorsed Democrat Bill Ritter for governor.
The announcement was a coup for the former Denver prosecutor, who had angered those same black ministers in recent years by refusing to prosecute police officers involved in fatal shootings of civilians.
“It was on the forefront, and it was a top priority,” said the Rev. Paul Burleson, president of the alliance and pastor of Friendship Baptist Church of Christ Jesus. “We had to get some answers. Certainly, the Paul Childs incident was a real concern and still is a concern.”
In 2003, Ritter, as the Denver district attorney, declined to prosecute police officer James Turney for fatally shooting Childs, a developmentally disabled 15-year-old African- American boy who was wielding a knife.
Ritter concluded that he could not proceed with a criminal prosecution of Turney because Turney had a reasonable belief that Childs posed an imminent danger.
Burleson said the alliance members were satisfied that Ritter was unable to file a case.
“We believe his hands were tied in some instances where he had to, as the district attorney, uphold the law of the land,” Burleson said. “At the same time, we just felt that some things could have been done better.”
Still, Burleson said, Ritter was a “man of integrity” who deserved the alliance’s endorsement for supporting quality education, affordable medical care and fiscal responsibility.
Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez was angling for the black vote by emphasizing his support for school vouchers and his opposition to gay marriage – positions that Beauprez spokesman John Marshall said were aligned with the ministers’ views.
In August, Marshall said Beauprez had “more in common” with the ministers, so he should win their support. Later that month, Beauprez outraged those ministers by saying incorrectly that 70 percent of black women who become pregnant have abortions.
“We’re going to continue reaching out to the black community,” Marshall said. “We will work closely with several of the pastors in that community.”
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-954-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
