“There’s a clear distinction between myself and other candidates in this race.”
The 1995 OJ Simpson trial had a huge impact on the American psyche. While some convinced of Simpson’s guilt were appalled by the “not guilty” verdict, others celebrated the outcome of a case they believed was manipulated by overzealous police officers.
St. Louis County Prosecutor, Wesley Bell, who was 21 at the time, focused on something entirely unrelated. In a recent conversation with the St. Louis American, Bell said he noted something with the trial that changed the trajectory of his life. An imbalance in the nation’s criminal justice system. In brief, he recognized that those with money and resources can get a kind of “justice” most Americans are rarely afforded.
A year after the murder of 18-year-old Mike Brown by a Ferguson police officer in 2014. Bell ran and was elected to the Ferguson city council. He was in that position as the nation scrutinized Ferguson and some of the other 88 county municipalities that used local police to punish and profit off mostly poor people. He said he’s proud to have been among the individuals who worked to clean up corrupt bureaucracies in the county.
Though few knew his name in the region, Bell made the bold decision to challenge then St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch in the 2018 election race. In a major upset, Bell soundly defeated McCulloch. In January 2019, Bell took office becoming the first black county prosecuting attorney in St. Louis County history.
Bell seems to have set his sights on higher ambitions. Last year, he announced his candidacy in the 2024 United States Senate race challenging incumbent Sen. Josh Hawley. Four months later, in October 2023, Bell opted instead to seek the Missouri 1st U.S. House currently occupied by Cong. Cori Bush.
Perhaps coincidentally Bell entered the race after Bush had been soundly lambasted for her comments regarding Israel’s counterattack against Hamas for its Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel. After calling for a ceasefire, pro-Israeli political groups raised millions in an ongoing attempt to oust Bush from office.
Is Bell an opportunist who shifted his political priorities to appease Bush’s wealthy enemies? He admitted publicly that, “yes” that was part of his decision to go after Bush’s seat. But it wasn’t the only reason, Bell insists. He simply believes that he possesses a skill Bush does not: “coalition-building.”
In this one-on-one interview with the prosecutor and congressional candidate, we explore Bell’s political motivations and strategies, his successes and criticisms while serving as county prosecutor, and much, much more.
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St.. Louis American: Honestly, before the county prosecutors’ race, I had never heard of you.
Wesley Bell: (Laughs) You had no reason to have heard of me.
STL American: There had to be an inner voice or the voices of other people who told you ‘Wesley, there’s no way in hell you’re going to beat Bob McCulloch?’
WB: Listen, I had friends I had known my entire life laugh in my face when I told them I was going to run for county prosecutor. There was a small handful of people who believed in me, and I don’t mean like several hundred; I mean like a dozen.
We just believed the county needed change. What we saw in Ferguson was not just exclusive to its borders. This was something county-wide, even nationwide. We just believed our message would resonate with voters, so we took it to the doors, to the streets; we took our message to every county and made our case.
STL American: Did your confidence grow as you campaigned?
WB: We had a plan. We saw the early polling which was bleak to say the least. But our plan was to do a grassroots campaign. We knew we probably weren’t going to be taken seriously but we also knew we had to roll up our sleeves, knock on doors and do the work. As it got closer and closer, we started seeing how that momentum was turning in our way, so we just kept pushing and pushing. By the time we got to election day – it wasn’t a matter of winning, it was a matter of how much we were going to win by. We had the right message and we put the work in.
STL American: After you became county prosecutor, there were many Black people upset with you after you relaunched an investigation into Michael Brown’s death, but did not file criminal charges against Darren Wilson, the officer who killed him?
WB: Yeah, and I think we have to be fair on that. The investigative body with the most resources in the entire world is the Department of Justice and they did a very thorough investigation in real time and they weren’t able to prosecute. So, what were we supposed to do six years later? We took a deep dive into the case … we looked at every piece of evidence; we put a call out for new evidence because we heard rumors of (unexplored) evidence; we looked at every documentary to either confirm or debunk allegations. We kept our promises.
STL American: You won on a platform of “change.” What do you think your major accomplishments have been since 2018?
WB: Well, I believe there’s a couple things that serve as an effective measurement of how we’ve done. I’m a data person. If you don’t track the data, you don’t know if what you’re saying is true.
In four years, we’ve expanded our treatment programs. There are 2,500 people who overwhelmingly would have seen the inside of a jail cell but did not. These were low-level, nonviolent offenders. The data shows that-of those folk-we have a 3.9% recidivism rate, meaning a 96-97% success rate. We connected these people to the treatment through our partnerships with Affinia, BJC and the Urban League and we addressed those underlying issues so they could be successful. And we know the opposite (strategy) is that if you just put those people in jail they’re going to go back. Now, we still prosecute serious and violent offenders but there’s a whole bucket of people who just need help … struggling with mental health, substance abuse, opioid abuse, you name it and when we connect them to treatment, they do well.
Another thing is … from day one, we announced that we are no longer going to prosecute people with low amounts of marijuana … so let’s look at what happened. A few years later, it (legalized marijuana) gets on the ballot and passes. A few weeks ago, the federal government said, ‘we’re changing.’ So, we were out front on that.
The last thing I’ll say is the biggest confirmation of what we’re doing, is never in the history of St. Louis County has a first-term incumbent who does not have a Republican opponent. That just shows that we’ve been successful in building coalitions. That’s the only way you can get things done in a place with 88 municipalities … to see that broad coalition that we’ve built isa confirmation of what we’re doing, and it will be the exact same approach we’ll take to D.C.
STL American: You ran against McCulloch in 2018 because you said there was a need for change. In June of last year, you announced you were running against U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican seeking his second term in office. What was the rationale?
WB: I don’t think there’s much of a need for an explanation. Josh Hawley needs to go. I think he’s bad for the state; I think he’s bad for the country, so it was a bit of a no-brainer. He needs to be challenged and defeated.
STL American: OK, so, about five months later, in October, you decided to drop out of the senate race and challenge Cori Bush’s congressional seat instead. Again, what was the motivation?
WB: What became abundantly clear to me from folks on the ground or at home in our district … for a very long time I’ve been getting requests to run for the congressional seat. One of the arguments that was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me is that-there’s certain money and resources coming to every district because legislation had been passed-anything beyond that you have to build coalitions to bring those resources home. Our congresswoman clearly does not work with her caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, or the Democratic Caucus … she voted against the bi-partisan infrastructure bill which brought hundreds of millions into this district. With that vote, she joined the extreme rightwing Maga Republicans. We need someone who’s going to be laser-focused on the needs of this district. So, once I really thought about it; it was an easy decision; the right thing to do for the right reasons.
STL American: October was also the time Hamas launched a terrorist attack against Israel and Bush received serious backlash for criticizing Israel’s response and calling for a ceasefire. In response, pro-Israel organizations like AIPAC raised millions of dollars to get her out of office. You publicly said that that was part of the reason you decided to challenge her? What would you say to those who may consider you an opportunist?
WB: Well, I think her entire record is fair game in any decision when we evaluate an elected official. So, when I look at her voting record; when I look at the fact that her constituency services are next to zero; when I look at her votes that impact us locally and nationally … all those things I took into consideration. Her body of work is the reason why I’m in this election and why I’m gaining so much support.
STL American: Back in March, lawyers for a prosecutor fired from your office claimed she was dismissed because of her age, race, and gender. What’s your response to those allegations?
WB: Let’s get through the misinformation first. This lawsuit is about an attorney who worked in our office who had a recommendation on a case that our victims-who happened to be police officers-approached us and said the recommendation was too extreme because the facts of the case did not support it. Once we became aware of that, our staff did our due diligence. We listened to our victims, and we agreed that a lower sentence was more appropriate. Her attorney felt that me making that decision – overturning her recommendation – was somehow motivated by some type of discrimination. That’s what this lawsuit is about. Voters hold me responsible for decisions in this office and at the end of the day, I stand by that decision.
STL American: Also in March, a coalition of racial justice groups released a report called “Prosecutor Watch.” Did you read that and what are your thoughts?
WB: Actually, I did. I met with that group. I was a little disappointed because in their discussions with you guys and other media outlets, they said we didn’t respond when in fact we did. The bottom line is the organization asked us to do things that are illegal. (For example) they asked us to use diversion (remedies) with serious and violent offenses which Missouri statutes prohibit. But as I said earlier, we’ve expanded treatment programs … we created a conviction incident review unit, where an individual who had been sentenced to a life sentence from a wrongful conviction 20 years ago is free because of our and other stakeholder’s intervention.
When I look at our body of work, I’m really proud that we-not just me-have reformed the criminal justice system in St. Louis County.
STL American: One person involved with that group, Michelle Smith, with Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty said, “Prosecutor Bell has not been much different than his predecessor Bob McCulloch. There’s still a lot of people in St. Louis County jail. There’s still a lot of people getting charged with certain crimes that we feel like they shouldn’t be.” How do you respond to that allegation?
WB: It never fails that once we get around election season, some things get thrown out there that just do not make sense. Again, just go to the data. There’s never been a conviction incident review unit in the history of St. Louis County’s prosecutor’s office; there’s never been a prosecution-led diversion program that treated and diverted as many people from prison as we have.
Let’s go into the inner-workings of the office: There’s never been a woman on the executive leadership team in the history of the office. I’ve hired three. There’s never been a female investigator. I’ve hired five. There’s never been one single social worker in the county prosecutor’s office… I’ve hired five. So, when you look at what our office has done-both externally and internally-and the outcomes of those policies, I’m very proud of what we’ve done.
STL American: Moving on…another African American candidate in your congressional race, former state legislator Maria Chappelle-Nadal said she is the better candidate because she has more legislative experience than you and Bush combined. What are your thoughts about her and her candidacy?
WB: (Laughs) I’ll say she can speak for her campaign, and I’ll talk about what we’re doing and my experience. I’ve served as a public defender and an educator at community college. I am the only candidate that has served in every branch of the government. I served in the judicial branch as a judge, I’m serving now in my second term as prosecutor, and I’ve served as a municipal court prosecutor. I served in the legislature as a county councilman during a very difficult time. In all of those stops, I have been able to work with others, build coalitions and actually get things done. And folks know that. I’m not going to get into personal attacks. To be quite frank, that’s what candidates do when they can’t run on their record.
I think I have a body of work that voters can make their decisions on, and I think there’s a clear distinction between myself and other candidates in this race.
That’s what I’m focused on.
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.
