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            Racially Charged Case Draws Attorney General to Missouri

   by VOA News

   U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder arrived in Missouri on Wednesday,
   hours after nearly 50 protesters were arrested in Ferguson during the
   11th straight night of demonstrations over the killing of an unarmed
   black teenager by a white police officer.

   Holder was expected to meet with FBI and other officials carrying out
   an independent federal investigation into Brown's death, as well as
   with community leaders.

   Holder arrived in St. Louis shortly before 12 p.m. PST (1600 GMT)
   Wednesday and was expected to head to nearby Ferguson. He was
   accompanied by several Justice Department officials, including members
   of its Civil Rights division.

   Meanwhile, dozens of protesters demonstrated peacefully on Wednesday in
   front of the Clayton, Missouri, courthouse where prosecutors are
   expected to begin presenting evidence to determine whether to charge
   officer Darren Wilson in the August 9 death of 18-year-old Michael
   Brown.

   Wilson is on paid leave, with Brown's family and supporters calling for
   his arrest.

   The teen's death has triggered allegations of systemic racial
   discrimination in the central U.S. town of Ferguson, where Brown was
   shot.

   Rallies, protests

   Daily rallies in Ferguson have turned violent at times in the past 11
   days. Police have arrested more than 100 protesters, primarily for
   refusing to leave the streets.

   Most of the protests have been punctuated by looting, vandalism and
   clashes between demonstrators and police.

   Police said many of those arrested are not from Ferguson but from
   states as far as New York and California.

   Prosecuting attorney Bob McCulloch said his office could continue
   presenting evidence to the grand jury through mid-October, as he
   confronts conflicting pressures for speed and thoroughness.

   "On one side, people are saying you're rushing to justice, and on the
   other side, they're saying you're dragging this thing out," he said at
   a news conference. "We're going to present this as expeditiously as
   possible, but we are not going to present it in a half-hearted manner."

   African-American minister Stanton Holliday, 62, who said he was a
   longtime civil rights activist, said he was concerned that prosecutors
   were taking too long.

   "The criminal justice system in America ... is as racist as it was 50
   years ago," Holliday said.

   Two dozen protesters gathered in a circle for a prayer, chanted, and
   held signs urging prosecutor McCulloch to step aside.

   Nearly two dozen officers guarded the building's main entrance, which
   also was blocked off with yellow police tape.

   McCulloch's deep family connections to police have been cited by some
   black leaders who question his ability to be impartial in the case.
   McCulloch's father, mother, brother, uncle and cousin all worked for
   the St. Louis Police Department, and his father was killed while
   responding to a call involving a black suspect, The Associated Press
   reported.

   The prosecutor, who is white, has insisted his background will have no
   bearing on the handling of the Brown case.

   On Tuesday, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said he would not seek
   McCulloch's removal from the case, citing the "well-established
   process" by which prosecutors can recuse themselves from pending
   investigations to make way for a special prosecutor.

   Attorney general's schedule

   Holder said he planned to visit Ferguson, a predominantly black St.
   Louis suburb of 21,000 residents.

   In Ferguson, some said they hoped Holder's visit would lead to a speedy
   arrest and prosecution of the police officer involved in the shooting,
   while others cautioned against hasty justice.

   In a special message to the community [1]published online by the St.
   Louis Post-Dispatch, Holder said about 40 FBI agents have been assigned
   to the case, along with prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office in
   St. Louis.

   Hundreds of people have already been interviewed, Holder said, and
   federal medical examiners have performed an independent autopsy, the
   third conducted in the killing.

   "Our investigation into this matter will be full, it will be fair, and
   it will be independent," Holder said.

   Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AP.

   ''
     __________________________________________________________________

   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/racially-charged-case-draws-attorney-
   general-to-missouri/2422337.html

References

   1. http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/a-message-to-the-people-of-ferguson/article_ea8b7358-67a3-5187-af8c-169567f27a0d.html
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/racially-charged-case-draws-attorney-general-to-missouri/2422337.html