TRUTH ALERT: Missouri police group calls pro-sharp attack ad ‘disturbing’

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A police group in Missouri is criticizing a political ad that features Attorney General Andrew Bailey and a Hermann police officer who was killed in 2023.

The Missouri Fraternal Order of Police called Defend Missouri’s complaint “disturbing” in a statement posted Friday on X. The complaint focuses on Bailey’s handling of some cases involving Kenneth L. Simpson, the man now accused of shooting two Hermann police officers. Sergeant Mason Griffith died, while Officer Adam Sulentrup survived.

Defend Missouri is a political action committee supporting Will Scharf, a Republican candidate for the Attorney General nomination. Scharf has emphasized his relationship with Donald Trump during his campaign as one of the former president’s personal lawyers.

“The complaint seeks to politicize the tragic murder of Detective Sergeant Mason Griffith of the Hermann Police Department on March 12, 2023,” said the statement from Missouri FOP President Jay Schroeder. “In doing so, Mr. Scharf jeopardizes the pending trial of Attorney General Andrew Bailey seeking the death penalty for the murder suspect by potentially tampering with the jury.”

Bailey’s campaign team accused Scharf of trying to score “cheap political points” with the ad.

“If Will Scharf truly supports law enforcement, he would demand the immediate removal of the ad and personally apologize to the families traumatized by these events,” campaign manager James Lawson said in an email to ABC 17 News.

Scharf declined to comment on the PAC’s ad. The Missouri FOP endorsed Bailey for attorney general in 2023.

ADVERTISEMENT: “As a prosecutor, Bailey dealt gently with a violent career criminal who once shot at a police car..”

Simpson pleaded guilty in 2004 to 10 counts of tampering with a motor vehicle and one count of criminal damage to property, all felonies. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported that Simpson was accused of using a pellet gun to fire shots at several cars in Warren County, including the window of a deputy’s car.

Simpson was sentenced to five years’ probation for this crime, but in 2006 a judge revoked the sentence and sentenced him to five years in prison.

AD: “Bailey knew this and still charged him with misdemeanors after he struck again and was free again within a few months.”

The complaint highlights Bailey’s time as an assistant district attorney in Warren County in 2017. Court records show Bailey worked two cases with Simpson that year. Bailey first charged Simpson in October 2017 for punching his father in the face. Two months later, Bailey charged Simpson again for allegedly carrying brass knuckles.

Court records obtained by ABC 17 News show Simpson pleaded guilty to both counts in October 2018 – the first to fourth-degree assault and the second to unlawful possession of a weapon. A judge sentenced him to six months in prison on both counts, which were Class A misdemeanors. Court records show a different assistant district attorney handled the confessions.

AD: “Last year, the same felon who Bailey punched on the fingers is said to have shot two police officers with the same finger. One lost his life, two boys lost their fathers.”

Simpson is now accused of killing Griffith and injuring Sullen Troop in March 2023. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the two officers confronted Simpson at a Casey’s General Store. Simpson had no-bail warrants out for his arrest for failing to appear in court in several cases, including the Warren County cases mentioned above. Court records show Simpson had been wanted on those warrants since September 2022.

While the ad mentions Griffith’s family, Schroeder said in the statement that the ad shows “a complete and utter disregard” for that family.

“They have suffered enough pain and trauma over the past year and should not be exposed to images of their loved ones’ killer on television,” the statement said.

The spokesman for the ad is Scott Childers, who is listed as the sheriff of Ray County. Childers has been on leave from his post since March, when Bailey filed a lawsuit to remove him from office. He is accused of using prison inmates to work on his and other properties. Neither Defend Missouri nor an attorney for Childers responded to questions about how Childers became involved in the ad.

ABC 17 News previously reported on a Defend Missouri commercial in its “Truth Alert” series.