A second local prosecutor on Thursday asked the US Justice Department to have his name removed from a controversial report on policing reforms, saying he feared it would fail to address systemic racism in the criminal justice system.
Mark Dupree, the district attorney in Wyandotte County, Kansas, told US Attorney General William Barr in a letter seen by Reuters he felt the work of the department's special law enforcement commission had been "smothered by a pernicious political agenda."
The commission started working before the May killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide protests against racism and police brutality.
Dupree, an African American, is the second person who worked on the commission to resign.
He is also at least the third person involved with the commission known to voice concerns the Justice Department was not adequately considering feedback from all interested parties on improving policing practices in America.
In October, a federal judge temporarily halted the Justice Department from publishing the commission's report, saying it had violated federal open meetings laws.
The ruling came after the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People Legal Defense and Educational Fund (NAACP LDF) sued the panel, alleging it lacked diverse membership, allowed police interest groups to have undue influence on the commission's work, and failed to give ample access to open meetings.