Michael Brown’s father seeks new investigation into killing
CLAYTON, Mo. — On the fifth anniversary of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, his father urged St. Louis County’s top prosecutor Friday to reopen the investigation into the white police officer who fatally shot the black and unarmed 18-year-old.
Before a memorial service in the Ferguson street where the officer fatally shot his son on Aug. 9, 2014, Michael Brown Sr. addressed reporters outside of the St. Louis County Justice Center in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton.
“Justice has not been served,” Brown, 41, said as he was flanked by about three dozen supporters. “My son deserved to live a full life. But a coward with a badge chose not to value his life.
“My son was murdered in cold blood, with no remorse and no medical treatment,” said Brown, who has never accepted the officer’s claim that he had acted in selfdefense.
Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, the county’s first black prosecutor, took office in January after his stunning victory over seven-term incumbent Bob McCulloch.
McCulloch drew criticism for his handling of the investigation into the Michael Brown shooting, with detractors accusing him of guiding the grand jury to its decision not to indict the officer, Darren Wilson, which came in November 2014, three months after Brown’s death.
The U.S. Department of Justice under then-President Barack Obama also declined to charge Wilson, who resigned within days of the grand jury decision announcement.
In a statement, Bell would not say whether his office would reopen the case, but he said it “is doing everything (it) can to understand the underlying issues that contributed to the tragic death of Michael Brown.”
Bell said his office is working with police “to implement policies and reforms that meaningfully address those issues, and help this community and this region heal.” He said he is also forming a special unit within his office to look at officerinvolved shootings and potential cases of wrongful convictions.
Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, also has urged Bell to reopen the case.
Later Friday, a few hundred people gathered for a memorial service on Canfield Drive at the site of the shooting. The service included 4 1⁄2 minutes of silence, a symbolic reference to the 4 1⁄2 hours Brown’s body remained on the street after the shooting.