Attorney General Eric Holder said he will stay updated on developments in Ferguson, Missouri, after traveling to the town Wednesday to see the ongoing protests and riots firsthand.
Reiterating many of the points he has emphasized in his speeches this past week, Mr. Holder wrote a blog entry posted Friday on the Justice Department website calling for an end to violence in the town while federal investigators conduct a “fair,” “thorough” and “independent” investigation.
“I hope the relative calm that we witnessed last night can be enduring,” he wrote. “To a person, the people I met yesterday take great pride in their town. They want a resolution.”
Mr. Holder said his visit to the town affected him greatly as he met with both community leaders and law enforcement officers.
“Despite the mistrust that exists, [town residents] reject the violence we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks,” Mr. Holder said. “In that sense, while I went to Ferguson to provide reassurance, in fact, they gave me hope.”
Ferguson has been the site of a deepening civil rights confrontation after a black teenager, Michael Brown, was shot and killed by a white police officer Aug. 9.
Mr. Holder met with Mr. Brown’s parents, and said he talked with them “not just as attorney general, but as a father with a teenage son myself.”
• Phillip Swarts can be reached at pswarts@washingtontimes.com.
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