Ferguson police created a 'toxic' environment: US attorney general

Holder made the remarks on Wednesday, just after the Justice Department cleared Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson of federal charges in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.
 
He accused the Ferguson Police Department of creating “a highly toxic environment” in the Missouri town,  where Brown was shot dead multiple times by the white officer on August 9, 2014.
 
The Justice Department also released a report that detailed the ways in which the Ferguson police created fear and resentment among African American residents in the Missouri town by disproportionately targeting them with fines, tickets and excessive force.
 
The report is the result of a month-long probe triggered by the shooting death of Brown by white officer Wilson in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, which led to massive Black Lives Matter protests across the country.
 
Holder said violations of human rights by the police were widespread.
 
"According to our investigation, this emphasis on revenue generation through policing has fostered unconstitutional practices -- or practices that contribute to constitutional violations -- at nearly every level of Ferguson’s law enforcement system," he said.
 
The new report covers a range of police discriminatory measures in different stages, from the cops’ initial encounters with black suspects to how they are treated in the municipal court or prison.
 
    "Clearly, these findings -- and others included in the report -- demonstrate that, although some community perceptions of Michael Brown’s tragic death may not have been accurate, the widespread conditions that these perceptions were based upon, and the climate that gave rise to them, were all too real," Holder said.
 
People in the US have been simmering with rage due to death of several unarmed black Americans at the hands of police and grand jury decisions not to indict the officers responsible.
 
Police officer Daniel Pantaleo was not indicted, similar to Wilson, in Eric Garner's chokehold death in New York City.
 
Unlike the fatal shooting of Brown, the chokehold death of Garner, a father of six and grandfather of two, was recorded by a cell phone and widely seen, contributing to the public outrage. In the video, Garner repeatedly told police officers "I can't breathe!”