The Justice Department announced today that Darren Wilson, the former police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in August, will not face federal civil rights charges in connection with Brown’s death.
“There is no evidence upon which prosecutors can rely to disprove Wilson’s stated subjective belief that he feared for his safety,” states a DOJ report on the decision.
The Huffington Post reported that Wilson, who is white, fatally shot Brown, who was black and unarmed, on Aug. 9. Brown’s death, and the heavily militarized police response to demonstrators in the following days and weeks, accelerated a national debate about police brutality and systemic racism. Brown was killed just weeks after NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo placed Eric Garner, another unarmed black man, in a fatal chokehold during a confrontation with police.
The Justice Department made the announcement public following a meeting with Brown’s family members Wednesday morning. DOJ simultaneously released the full details of an investigation into the broader practices of the Ferguson Police Department.
