Ferguson plans permanent memorial to Michael Brown

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — The makeshift memorial that has marked the place where Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer in August will be removed and replaced with a permanent plaque, Ferguson’s mayor said Wednesday.

Mayor James Knowles III was joined by Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr., at a news conference to announce that the plaque will be placed in the road as part of a project to resurface Canfield Drive, where the shooting occurred. Brown’s father said the plaque will include the likeness of a dove.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my son,” Brown said on what would have been his son’s 19th birthday.

“We’re just really trying to move forward,” Brown said, acknowledging that the memorial had become a safety hazard. “It just needs to be moved.”

Brown, who was black, was killed by white officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, touching off protests and a national “Black Lives Matter” movement.

A St. Louis County grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November. But a separate Justice Department report found racial profiling among Ferguson officers and a municipal court system driven by profit. Release of the report in March led to the resignation of Ferguson’s city manager, municipal court judge and police chief.

The temporary memorial, which appeared in the hours after the shooting, was expected to be taken down later Wednesday.