ST. LOUIS (AP) — Some black activists say there’s an unfair racial component to criticism of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner over her hiring of a man who led the investigation of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and who now faces perjury charges.

About a dozen black activists gathered Tuesday outside of a downtown courthouse to defend Gardner and the investigator, William Tisaby, who are both black.

Tisaby faces six counts of perjury and one count of tampering with evidence stemming from his work investigating allegations of wrongdoing that contributed to the Republican Greitens resigning from office. Among the activists was Tisaby’s attorney, Jermaine Wooten, who says Tisaby is “100 percent innocent.”

Gardner, a Democrat, was elected in 2016. She has been at odds with St. Louis’ law enforcement establishment ever since.

PHOTO CAPTION:  Former FBI agent William Don Tisaby, left, is accompanied by attorney Jermaine Wooten as he turns himself in at St. Louis Police headquarters on Monday, June 17, 2019, in St Louis. Tisaby has been charged in a perjury investigation related to the prosecution of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)