Michael Brown’s family is suing the city of Ferguson, Missouri, for his death at the hands of a white police officer, according to a media alert released by the family’s lawyers Wednesday night.
Attorneys Benjamin Crump, Anthony Gray and Darryl Parks said the family would file a wrongful-death civil lawsuit at the St. Louis County Courthouse on Thursday.
The announcement said the lawyers would hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. CDT at the courthouse entrance.
The media alert did not specify such details as what damages would be sought and whether Officer Darren Wilson, who has resigned his post since the Brown shooting, would be sued.
Mr. Wilson claimed Brown, who was unarmed, had hit him and grabbed for his gun. Both a state grand jury investigating the death as a homicide and the federal Justice Department looking at potential civil-rights violations declined to bring any criminal charges against Mr. Wilson.
Brown family members and their lawyers denounced those decisions at the time.
The case sparked weeks of protests and riots in Ferguson that drew national attention and round-the-clock cable news coverage. The demonstrations sparked a national movement against police use of force, particularly white officers against black suspects.
Earlier this year, several Ferguson city officials, including the police chief and city manager, stepped down in the wake of a scathing Justice Department report that revealed racist emails were exchanged among police force members.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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