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DOJ Ends Investigation With Damning Findings On Ferguson, But No Charges Against Darren Wilson

CREDIT: AP
CREDIT: AP

The Department of Justice decided not to file charges against Darren Wilson Wednesday, stating that the department was unable to corroborate claims that Michael Brown had his hands in the air when he was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson last August. But a second report released the same day found that police in the city of Ferguson have systematically discriminated against African Americans.

The DOJ investigation concluded that forensic evidence and witness testimony actually substantiated Wilson’s allegation that Michael Brown reached for his gun and charged at him. The department was also unable to authenticate claims that Brown surrendered before he was shot, since the “accounts…are inconsistent with the physical and forensic evidence.”

Sources who initially testified that Brown had his hands raised when he was shot also changed their statements over time. “While credible witnesses gave varying accounts of exactly what Brown was doing with his hands as he moved toward Wilson — i.e., balling them, holding them out, or pulling up his pants up — and varying accounts of how he was moving — i.e., ‘charging,’ moving in ‘slow motion,’ or ‘running’ — they all establish that Brown was moving toward Wilson when Wilson shot him,” the DOJ’s report stated.

“Hands up, don’t shoot” became a rallying cry for protesters in Ferguson, in wake of Brown’s death. The Justice Department’s broader findings on policing in the city help to explain the outrage that erupted in the days and months following the shooting.

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In response to Brown’s death and subsequent uproar, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the DOJ would investigate Ferguson’s police department for civil rights abuses, which it’s done numerous times in the past. According to the final report, “African Americans account for 85% of vehicle stops, 90% of citations, and 93% of arrests made by FPD officers, despite comprising only 67% of Ferguson’s population.” Additionally, the city “consistently set maximizing revenue as the priority for Ferguson’s law enforcement activity,” which disproportionately impacted black residents.