FERGUSON, Missouri — Darren Wilson, the white former Ferguson police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man, will not face federal prosecution in the killing that brought race and police violence into the national debate.
Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by Wilson, “though a tragedy, did not involve prosecutable conduct.” He also said investigators found that the Ferguson Police Department has engaged in “a widespread pattern” of racial bias and constitutional violations.
But an 86-page Justice Department report found there was no evidence to refute Wilson’s claim that he fired because he feared for his safety after a confrontation with Brown, 18, on Aug. 9.
The confrontation spawned demonstrations in Ferguson that sometimes became violent. It also led to the slogan “Hands up, don’t shoot,” after some said that Brown was trying to surrender.
The Justice Department found that there were no reliable witnesses to substantiate that Brown had his hands raised when he was shot.
The decision not to prosecute Wilson had been expected. Officials in recent weeks said the case did not meet the higher standards for a federal civil rights prosecution. A Missouri grand jury had decided not to charge Wilson, setting off a second wave of violent demonstrations in November.
A second Justice Department report, described by Holder as “searing,” found that racial bias at the Ferguson Police Department has long stoked polarized relations with the black community, “deep mistrust and hostility.”
The report described a widespread pattern of racial discrimination that turned Ferguson into a “powder keg” by the time the grand jury declined to induct Wilson. While Holder said that violence is never justified, the “highly toxic environment, defined by mistrust and resentment” contributed to the unrest.
“In a sense, members of the community may not have been responding only to a single isolated confrontation,” Holder said, “but to a pervasive, corrosive, and deeply unfortunate lack of trust.”
The Justice Department issued more than two dozen recommendations to improve the Police Department and court system, including better training and other personnel decisions.
Christine Ewings, a cousin of Brown’s mother, was upset by the Justice Department findings. She told the Los Angeles Times that she wanted Wilson to face criminal charges.
“So, you’re going to say Darren Wilson didn’t violate Michael Brown’s civil rights, but the Police Department did? That doesn’t make sense,” Ewings said Wednesday.
“It needs to play out in court,” she said, adding that “they need to disband that Police Department, hire more black police officers, and the mayor and the police chief need to go.”
“We’re still mad,” she said of the family, sobbing in frustration. “I can’t do anything about it.”
Brown’s parents, Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., said the family was disappointed that Wilson will not be charged.
“While we are saddened by this decision, we are encouraged that the DOJ will hold the Ferguson Police Department accountable for the pattern of racial bias and profiling they found in their handling of interactions with people of color. It is our hope that through this action, true change will come not only in Ferguson, but around the country,” they said. “If that change happens, our son’s death will not have been in vain.”
The future of the Ferguson Police Department remained unclear, with city officials expected to comment later Wednesday on the report showing that blacks were subjected to a pattern of excessive force and harassment.
The report revealed patterns of racial bias toward blacks across the criminal justice system in Ferguson, from encounters with police patrol officers to treatment in the municipal court and jail.
Black drivers, for example, are far more likely to be searched than whites, even though they are less likely to be found with illegal substances. Nearly all people kept at the city jail for more than two days are black and the overwhelming majority of cases of police force involved blacks.
There were no protesters in front of the Ferguson police headquarters early Wednesday, but the main street was still marked by the nights of turmoil that followed the grand jury decision — more than a dozen storefronts are still boarded up. Uplifting slogans, from “Ferguson strong” to “An injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere” and “Community” were visible.
Darren Seals, 27, just coming off the night shift at a General Motors plant Wednesday morning, said that after hearing about the Justice Department report he’s convinced the Police Department should be shut down.
“I don’t see no other way,” Seals said. “You can’t improve that. How are they going to improve their hearts, their intentions? You need an entirely new police force. I mean, look at how they treated the protesters. They haven’t done the right thing in all this time, they’re not going to do it now.”
Bradley Rayford, 22, a junior at St. Louis Community College Florissant Valley, was among those who met with Holder last summer when he visited Ferguson in the wake of Brown’s shooting.
“I’m just glad people know it happened. The question is what can you do about it now? What can you start to change about the culture in the Police Department? The culture is going to be hard to change. So I’m interested to see what happens going forward,” Rayford said.
The city announced it would not comment on the report until it is formally released. But city leaders are expected to face hard choices in the coming days, including how to pay for possible retraining of the existing force vs. contracting out police services to St. Louis County.
“It will be expensive to carry out charges,” said Antonio French, an alderman in nearby St. Louis and a frequent presence during the demonstrations and disturbances. “It is not clear where that money will come from and it may be easier to contract with the county.”
Patrick Green, mayor of nearby Normandy, said Ferguson will have to revamp its department.
“It’s in their best interests. The department was running in some ways on its own without the detailed oversight from its officials,” Green said.
“They need to restructure,” he said. “Can they do it because of what DOJ is saying? Sure they can.”
African Americans make up about two-thirds of the population of Ferguson, about 10 miles from downtown St. Louis. At the time of the Brown shooting only three of 53 city police officers were black.
The Justice Department has conducted about 20 investigations of police departments during the last six years while being led by Holder. Holder has announced he is stepping down soon.
Investigations that find wrongdoing usually lead to a consent decree between the federal government and the municipality, and an independent monitor is appointed to oversee the recommended changes, including the retraining of law enforcement officers.
Large cities can usually afford the cost associated with retraining but smaller cities have had to scrimp or borrow to make ends meet.
Gabe Crocker, president of the St Louis County Police Assn., said he was eager to see the full Justice Department report, especially its statistical analysis.
“As a police union leader, I want to know the numbers, I want to see how they did what they did and how they came to those conclusions,” he said.
He said he expects the Ferguson Police Department will end up operating under a consent decree.
“They had to find something,” he said, because, “a lot of folks out there want to see change.”
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