SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
DOJ Launches Civil Rights Investigation Into Ferguson Police Dept
"This Ferguson investigation is a step, but we've got a national police brutality problem going on."
Sep 04, 2014
The U.S. Department of Justice is launching a broad civil rights investigation into the Ferguson Missouri police department after officer Darren Wilson shot to death unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown last month.
The investigation was first reported by the Washington Post -- which cited anonymous federal law enforcement officials -- and could be announced as soon as Thursday afternoon. It will examine the Ferguson and other St. Louis County law enforcement departments -- many of which, like in Ferguson, are majority white and police majority black populations -- focusing on numerous practices, including police stops, arrests, use of force, and training, according to an unnamed source cited by the Guardian.
This broad inquiry is separate from a Justice Department specific investigation of Officer Wilson's killing of Michael Brown.
At least six current or former Ferguson police officers currently face lawsuits on charges of civil rights violations, which include: pistol whipping a child, hog tying a child, killing a mentally ill man, and beating a man then filing charges against him for bleeding on officers' clothes.
The murder of Michael Brown touched off protests in Ferguson and across the country against police racism, violence, and militarization. While the investigation was welcomed by some, organizers urge that the problem of police brutality extends far beyond St. Louis County.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare is the editor of Workday Magazine and a contributing editor for In These Times. She is a former Staff Writer at Common Dreams. She comes from a background in independent journalism for publications including The Intercept, The Nation, and Tom Dispatch.
The U.S. Department of Justice is launching a broad civil rights investigation into the Ferguson Missouri police department after officer Darren Wilson shot to death unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown last month.
The investigation was first reported by the Washington Post -- which cited anonymous federal law enforcement officials -- and could be announced as soon as Thursday afternoon. It will examine the Ferguson and other St. Louis County law enforcement departments -- many of which, like in Ferguson, are majority white and police majority black populations -- focusing on numerous practices, including police stops, arrests, use of force, and training, according to an unnamed source cited by the Guardian.
This broad inquiry is separate from a Justice Department specific investigation of Officer Wilson's killing of Michael Brown.
At least six current or former Ferguson police officers currently face lawsuits on charges of civil rights violations, which include: pistol whipping a child, hog tying a child, killing a mentally ill man, and beating a man then filing charges against him for bleeding on officers' clothes.
The murder of Michael Brown touched off protests in Ferguson and across the country against police racism, violence, and militarization. While the investigation was welcomed by some, organizers urge that the problem of police brutality extends far beyond St. Louis County.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare is the editor of Workday Magazine and a contributing editor for In These Times. She is a former Staff Writer at Common Dreams. She comes from a background in independent journalism for publications including The Intercept, The Nation, and Tom Dispatch.
The U.S. Department of Justice is launching a broad civil rights investigation into the Ferguson Missouri police department after officer Darren Wilson shot to death unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown last month.
The investigation was first reported by the Washington Post -- which cited anonymous federal law enforcement officials -- and could be announced as soon as Thursday afternoon. It will examine the Ferguson and other St. Louis County law enforcement departments -- many of which, like in Ferguson, are majority white and police majority black populations -- focusing on numerous practices, including police stops, arrests, use of force, and training, according to an unnamed source cited by the Guardian.
This broad inquiry is separate from a Justice Department specific investigation of Officer Wilson's killing of Michael Brown.
At least six current or former Ferguson police officers currently face lawsuits on charges of civil rights violations, which include: pistol whipping a child, hog tying a child, killing a mentally ill man, and beating a man then filing charges against him for bleeding on officers' clothes.
The murder of Michael Brown touched off protests in Ferguson and across the country against police racism, violence, and militarization. While the investigation was welcomed by some, organizers urge that the problem of police brutality extends far beyond St. Louis County.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.