Report: No Federal Charges for Darren Wilson

[Content Note: Racism; police brutality.]

This is not surprising, but it is incredibly disappointing and infuriating:
The Justice Department has begun work on a legal memo recommending no civil rights charges against a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., who killed an unarmed black teenager in August, law enforcement officials said.

That would close the politically charged case in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The investigation by the F.B.I., which is complete, found no evidence to support civil rights charges against the officer, Darren Wilson, the officials said.

...The state authorities concluded their investigation into Mr. Brown's death in November and similarly recommended no charges.

There is a high legal bar for bringing federal civil rights charges, and federal investigators had for months signaled that they were unlikely to do so. The Justice Department plans to release a report explaining its decision, though it is not clear when.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., has said that he plans to have it done before leaving office, probably in the next month or two if his successor is confirmed.
No official decision has been made, but it doesn't look good.

Black lives matter. Black lives have to matter to people in positions of power, to people empowered with making decisions about which lives matter under the law.

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