The Ferguson Report: The Department of Justice Investigation of the Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department

After Michael Brown, an unarmed young black man, was shot by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, rage followed. For weeks and months, citizens from all across the country descended on Ferguson to protest the killing, and demand justice. Similar incidents on Staten Island and in Baltimore focused these protests even more intensely. The US Department of Justice conducted an extensive investigation into Brown’s shooting, and issued this report. The DOJ found extensive, longstanding, and institutionally accepted racism in the Ferguson police department. The report’s details are chilling and, describe a department literally plotting against its most vulnerable citizens. Among the findings: Ferguson police stopped, frisked, detailed, and arrested African American citizens at far higher rates than white citizens, incarcerated far more African Americans, and created an atmosphere of intimidation approaching that of a fascist state. For anyone who wants to understand what happened in Michael Brown’s case; who wants to understand why protestors took to the streets afterward; why many of their fellow citizens believe we live in two countries, separate and not equal; and why, in the 21st century, it is the police whom we must watch carefully and monitor for injustice, this scathing report will provide the answers.