Ferguson Police Officer Not Charged in Black Teen’s Shooting: Violence Flares in St. Louis Suburb After Grand Jury Declines to Indict Darren Wilson in Michael Brown’s Death: Ben Kesling and Mark Peters
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CLAYTON, Mo.— A grand jury declined to indict a white police officer in the shooting of an unarmed black teenager whose death in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson became a national flash point on race, justice and policing.
The decision released on Monday night led to renewed unrest after the region faced weeks of protest that turned violent at times this summer. Police within hours of the decision were using smoke canisters, tear gas and non-lethal shotgun rounds to disperse crowds in Ferguson as they reported incidents of looting and buildings being set on fire.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon had activated the National Guard ahead of the decision and early Tuesday, he ordered that additional troops be deployed to the city. The number of additional troops wasn’t provided.
The grand jury was charged with determining whether a crime occurred when Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot 18-year-old Michael Brown in August after an altercation between the two. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch said the 12-member panel didn’t find probable cause for five possible charges that ranged from first-degree murder to involuntary manslaughter, after hearing more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses.
“All decisions in the criminal-justice system must be determined by the physical and scientific evidence, and the credible testimony corroborated by that evidence. Not in response to public outcry or for political expediency,” Mr. McCulloch said.
The shooting of Mr. Brown in August gained national attention as protests spread to other cities and President Barack Obama and Congress weighed in. On Monday night, Mr. Obama urged calm. “We need to recognize that the situation in Ferguson speaks to broader challenges that we still face as a nation,” Mr. Obama said.
The national debate started over the death of Mr. Brown and, more broadly, the treatment of young, black men by police. It grew to include how police responded to protesters in Ferguson and the use of surplus military equipment such as Humvees by local police departments.
On Monday, the crowd gathered at the Ferguson police station initially reacted quietly to the grand jury decision, but a small group attacked a police car and threw objects at police. Police responded by firing crowd dispersal canisters they said was smoke, and later tear gas, and all but a few dozen protesters dispersed from streets outside the police station.
Around 10 p.m., a St. Louis County Police squad car burned just down the street from the Ferguson Police Department, spare ammunition “cooking off” or exploding in the car.
Several buildings nearby had windows shattered including the front door to the fire department. A Little Caesars restaurant, a self-storage facility and local meat market were looted and burned as a chaotic scene broke out along a main commercial strip.
Police, armed with 5.56 caliber assault-style rifles and shotguns loaded with nonlethal rounds stared at protesters through gas masks.
Ahead of the announcement, many businesses were boarded up and many area schools were closed.
In a statement, the Brown family said they were profoundly disappointed by the grand-jury ruling and referred to Mr. Wilson as a “killer of our child.” They called for positive action from people frustrated by the decision to help fix the legal system, including requiring officers to wear body cameras.
“Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction,” the Brown family said in a written statement.
A lawyer representing Mr. Wilson didn’t return a call seeking comment.
The grand jury over more than three months was tasked with trying to unravel what happened on Aug. 9, when Mr. Wilson stopped Mr. Brown for walking in the street. Brown family lawyers and police accounts say a struggle between the officer and Mr. Brown took place at the officer’s cruiser, resulting in the firing of Mr. Wilson’s pistol, and Mr. Brown then moved away from the vehicle.
Accounts of what happened then differ. Mr. Brown’s family says the unarmed teen put his hands up or out in supplication, while police and pathologists have said Mr. Brown likely had been moving toward the officer. Mr. Wilson fired multiple shots, killing Mr. Brown.
The prosecutor also said that he couldn’t give the breakdown in the voting from jurors, comprised of nine white members and three black members who were seated before the shooting of Mr. Brown.
One likely factor in the grand jury’s decision is Missouri’s law on “use of force”—or when a police officer is justified in using deadly force—which is considered more officer-friendly than that in other states, said legal experts.
“It’s really pretty straightforward—a police officer can use deadly force when it’s necessary to prevent bodily injury or death,” said David Klinger, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.
The grand-jury process has been touched by controversy from the beginning. Mr. McCulloch faced calls to step aside in favor of a special prosecutor for various reasons, including the fact his father was a St. Louis police officer who was killed by an armed suspect 50 years ago. Then came alleged leaks from those involved in the process and general criticisms of a lack of transparency, including from Attorney General Eric Holder .
The Justice Department is conducting its own criminal investigation to see if federal civil-rights laws were violated in the shooting of Mr. Brown. While the known facts of the case suggest it will be difficult to bring such charges against the officer, that review is likely to take weeks or months more, according to people familiar with the work.
Separately, the Justice Department has opened a civil investigation aimed at the entire Ferguson police force. The probe, which is exploring whether the Ferguson police force engaged in a “pattern and practice” of legal violations, will focus on possible excessive use of force and statistics on stops, searches and arrests, as well as treatment of prisoners and discriminatory policing, Justice Department officials said. The force of 53 officers only has a handful of minority members.
Protests were stage Monday evening in cities from New York to San Francisco. Some sections of Lake Shore Drive in Chicago were reportedly closed, amid protests.
Protesters also descended on the White House on Monday in the aftermath of the verdict chanting “We Are Mike Brown,” “Black lives matter” and “Hands up! Don’t shoot!”
Multiple protests erupted on the historically black campus of Howard University as well as on U Street in Washington DC before moving to the White House.
—Devlin Barrett, Ashby Jones, Alejandro Lazo, Colleen McCain Nelson, Caroline Porter and Byron Tau contributed to this article.
Write to Ben Kesling at benjamin.kesling@wsj.com and Mark Peters at mark.peters@wsj.com
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