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Michael Brown's Family To Sue Ferguson

by Melissah Yang

Attorneys announced Wednesday that the family of Michael Brown will file a civil suit against the city of Ferguson, Missouri. More details of the suit will be disclosed in a press conference outside St. Louis County Courthouse in Clayton, Missouri, Thursday morning. Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed by white police officer Darren Wilson last summer. A grand jury in November decided to not indict Wilson on criminal charges. Brown's death sparked numerous mass protests against police violence nationwide.

Early last month, the family announced they would pursue a civil case against the city, the day after the Department of Justice released a report that found evidence of racial bias within the Ferguson police department's practices. The DOJ determined Ferguson authorities disproportionately targeted African American residents with excessive fines to generate revenue for the city.

In March, four journalists who were arrested during the Ferguson protests last summer filed a lawsuit against the St. Louis County police department for battery, false arrest, and unreasonable search and seizure. Ryan Devereaux of The Intercept and German journalists Ansgar Graw, Frank Herrmann, and Lukas Hermsmeier claimed they were wrongly arrested for allegedly failing to disperse. Devereaux and Hermsmeier alleged police fired rubber bullets at them even after they showed their media credentials. Graw and Herrmann claimed they were arrested while wearing press badges around their necks. All four are seeking unspecified damages.