11-26-2014
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| Ferguson, Mo. goes up in flames after Grand Jury finds no evidence to recommend charges against Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images |
As far as the state of Missouri is concerned, the books can be closed on the Darren Wilson case, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18 year old Michael Brown in August of this year. The Grand Jury thoroughly examined the evidence and the witnesses and concluded that there is no evidence that justifies charges of murder or manslaughter in this case.
But one source, several in fact, have stated that Officer Wilson's woes may be far from over. As far as the town of Ferguson and the county in which it is located are concerned, and as far as the state of Missouri is concerned, Wilson's troubles are over and he cannot be charged with a crime in the killing of Michael Brown. But in the eyes of the federal government, however, Wilson may be forced to turn over his law enforcement license -- meaning he cannot work as a police officer -- and he and his local police department could be subjected to significant civil liabilities as a result of lawsuits claiming monetary damages.
When Barack Obama sent Attorney General Eric Holder to Ferguson as his personal representative in August, Holder came back to D.C. to discuss with Obama the feasibility of opening two separate federal investigations. One probe would deal with the possibility that Officer Wilson had violated the constitutional rights of Michael Brown. The other would examine the Ferguson Police Department to determine if the attitudes and actions of the department as a whole could have contributed to the death of Brown. At the heart of the probe would be to determine if there exists in the department a culture of racism or racial animosity that would make incidents like the shooting death of Brown more likely.
Such an investigation would be necessarily lengthy. Feds would delve deeply into the culture of the Ferguson Police Department to determine prevalent attitudes particularly with regard to their primary constituents, black Americans. It is also assumed that the Feds would do extensive interviews with those constituents to determine first hand what are the prevalent attitudes toward the local police and the circumstances that led to those attitudes.
The bottom line of all of this is that if Holder bears down on these two federal investigations, Officer Wilson and the entire Ferguson Police Department may be in for a lengthy ordeal.
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