By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


A Democratic candidate for County Prosecutor is criticizing a Republican candidate’s response to a social media post that called for the burning of Howell.

Ragan Lake, who lives in Brighton, is an assistant Wayne County prosecutor and the lone Democrat seeking nomination for Livingston County Prosecutor. On Wednesday, former Judge and Republican candidate David Reader posted to his campaign Facebook page that Prosecutor William Vailliencourt had declined to file charges against the author of a Twitter post from last month that suggested that the City of Howell should burn. Reader posted on Facebook, "This is unacceptable and we deserve better in our elected official. Justice for All." Vailliencourt then issued a statement that the claim from Reader was false and that no decision has been made.

Lake, in a release, called Reader’s post alarming for 2 reasons. First, Lake says it shows a lack of temperament to make an informed charging decision on Reader’s part. Secondly, she says it appears that Reader knowingly misinterpreted a fact to gain political advantage. Lake called the post “extraordinarily reckless” noting that if Reader is elected, his office will responsible for prosecuting the case. Lake said prosecutors have an obligation to ensure the accused has a fair trial, and that a worst case-interpretation of this post could be that it is an attempt by Reader to taint the pool of potential jurors. Lake also took issue with Reader’s use of “Justice for All” in his post, saying that that applies to the accused as well as the victim, and in this case, no one has even been accused yet.

WHMI has reached out to Reader for comment.