Federal civil rights charges are unlikely to be brought against Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson for the death of Michael Brown, the Washington Post reported Friday, citing anonymous sources. But the Justice Department is pushing back strongly against the report, calling it “irresponsible.”
Law enforcement officials told the Post that the Justice investigation hadn’t yielded the evidence necessary to bring any federal civil rights charges against Wilson.
“The evidence at this point does not support civil rights charges against Officer Wilson,” one source said. Another agreed: “The evidence we have makes federal civil rights charges unlikely.”
But the investigation remains open, and a Justice Department spokesman used strong language to rebuff what those sources told the Post.
“This is an irresponsible report by The Washington Post that is based on idle speculation,” spokesman Brian Fallon said in a statement to the newspaper.
The St. Louis County grand jury has also not yet decided whether Wilson will face state criminal charges for Brown’s death. Leaks about the grand jury have been a point of contention between the local prosecutor and the Justice Department.
the Justice Department is pushing back strongly against the report, calling it “irresponsible.”
I wish TPM would stop with the bullshit inaccurate headlines.
Rare for Federal charges to be filed before the Justice Department sees how the state case comes out.
I find it interesting that they call their anonymous sources “law enforcement officials.” Because a) that would include the Ferguson PD and, for that matter, Sheriff Joe Arapio and b) “law enforcement officials” don’t make decisions about who gets indicted for what. But hey, good work WaPo, keep fucking that chicken.
In this case, what the headline is saying is that “According to the Washington Post, Federal Charges against Wilson are unlikely”. The headline is accurate. The fact that the Justice Department is busy pushing back against the story does not negate the fact that the WaPo is saying the charges aren’t going to happen.
However, the story itself is kind of problematic given the distance between it and the WaPo article.
Proving intention will put an end to the possibility of bringing charges.