Missouri lieutenant governor Peter Kinder expressed anger over the the Missouri National Guard’s absence from Ferguson during riots on Monday night, speculating that the Obama administration may have leaned on the Missouri governor to keep the soldiers back.

Kinder, a Republican, lashed out at Democratic governor Jay Nixon for his failure to send the National Guard into the city while protesters looted and burned over a dozen businesses. Despite activating the Guard a week ago, troops were not deployed to Ferguson until Tuesday morning.



“Where were they last night?” Kinder asked during a Tuesday morning appearance on Fox News. “The law-abiding citizens and business owners and taxpayers of the St. Louis region have the right to ask this governor to answer some questions.”

“Here’s my question that the governor must answer,” the lieutenant governor continued. “Is the reason that the National Guard wasn’t in there was because the Obama administration and the Holder Justice Department leaned on you to keep them out?”

“I cannot imagine any other reason why the governor who mobilized the National Guard would not put them in there to stop this, before it started,” Kinder finished.