FLINT, MI -- Filmmaker Michael Moore accused Gov. Rick Snyder of poisoning Flint water in a rally here today, Jan. 16, and called again for the U.S. attorney general to investigate the governor for what he called crimes against the city.
"I am standing in the middle of a crime scene ...," Moore said. "Ten people have been killed ... because of a decision to save money."
A 90-day supply of "bottled water is not enough," he said. "We're not going to go away until this is fixed."
Moore's appearance in front of City Hall today came on the same day President Obama signed an emergency declaration, opening the door for federal aid for Flint's water crisis.
In a letter to Obama today, Moore asked the president to send the Centers for Disease Control to the city "to truly assess all of the disease and damage that has been forced upon the people of Flint."
Dave Murray, press secretary for Snyder, said in a statement after the rally that "every effort is focused on solving this emergency, getting the aid needed to help the residents, and ensuring that clean drinkable water is restored to the city.
"There is a tremendous amount of collaboration, with help from the White House to the National Guard to volunteers offering their time to go door-to-door to make sure people in Flint have the water and filters they need, the statement says.
"Political statements, and finger-pointing from people not involved in finding solutions for Flint only distract from solving this crisis."
Moore called for Obama to visit Flint and asked that the Federal Emergency Management Agency supply every home in city with large containers that can be regularly filled by water trucks "until the new infrastructure is resolved."
The Flint native said the president should send in the Army Corps of Engineers to build a new water infrastructure.
"Otherwise, you might as well just evacuate all the people from Flint and move them to a white city that has clean drinking water -- and where this would never happen," Moore's letter to the president says.
"We need the Army Corp of Engineers in here as if they are invading Iraq," Moore told the crowd. "We need every thing here to rebuild this infrastructure.
A small group protested Moore's appearance, saying he has been absent while they have spent nearly two years protesting water quality without him.
Arthur Woodson, one of the protesters, used a bullhorn to drown out some of Moore's comments, but Moore still delivered his message and his backers outnumbered his detractors.
"They should be angry. We are all angry," Moore said.
Flint resident Walt Green, 46, said the protest of Moore amounted to "bickering" that took the focus off Flint's water crisis.
City residents have been advised not to drink unfiltered tap water for months, the result of rising levels of lead in the water supply.
Lead levels in the blood of young children and in the water spiked in 2015, following the decision to use the Flint River as a temporary water supply.
Earlier this week, the governor said public health officials are also trying to determine whether an outbreak in Legionnaires' disease that killed 10 people in Genesee County may have a connection to the Flint water supply.