FERGUSON, mo., police shooting Official: FBI finishes its civil-rights probe

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The FBI has completed its investigation into the police shooting of an unarmed, black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Mo., a U.S. official said Wednesday.

The Justice Department has not yet announced whether it will file a federal civil-rights charge against former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. But officials and experts have said such a prosecution would be highly unlikely, in part because of the extraordinarily high legal standard federal prosecutors would need to meet.

The official was not authorized to discuss the case by name and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson declined to comment.

Wilson, who is white, was cleared in November by a state grand jury in the Aug. 9 death of Michael Brown, a shooting that touched off protests in the streets and became part of a national conversation about race relations and police departments that patrol minority neighborhoods. Attorney General Eric Holder visited Ferguson in the days after the shooting to try to calm tensions and meet with Brown’s family and law enforcement.

Wilson, who shot Brown after a scuffle in the middle of the street, told the St. Louis County grand jury that spent months reviewing the case that he feared for his life when Brown hit him and reached for his gun. Some witnesses have said Brown had his hands up when Wilson shot him.