Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that the there should be a “fulsome review” of the reported shooting of an unarmed black man in the suburbs of St. Louis by police.
Holder’s statement follows the FBI beginning their investigation into possible civil rights violations over the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Holder said FBI agents are working with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office had opened a concurrent federal inquiry.
Read Holder’s full statement below:
The shooting incident in Ferguson, Missouri, this weekend deserves a fulsome review. In addition to the local investigation already underway, FBI agents from the St. Louis field office, working together with attorneys from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, have opened a concurrent, federal inquiry. The federal investigation will supplement, rather than supplant, the inquiry by local authorities. At every step, we will work with the local investigators, who should be prepared to complete a thorough, fair investigation in their own right. I will continue to receive regular updates on this matter in the coming days. Aggressively pursuing investigations such as this is critical for preserving trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
