WASHINGTON (USA TODAY) -- The Justice Department will not charge former Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson, whose fatal shooting of a black teenager prompted waves of protests and a national reexamination of law enforcement's relationship with minority communities.
Findings of Justice's inquiry into the incident come six months after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot by Wilson, who is white.
According to the inquiry, "several witnesses stated that Brown appeared to pose a physical threat to Wilson as he moved toward Wilson."
"According to these witnesses, who are corroborated by blood evidence in the roadway," the inquiry states, "as Brown continued to move toward Wilson, Wilson fired at Brown in what appeared to be self defense and stopped firing once Brown fell to the ground."
The findings, while largely expected, were released Wednesday along with a scathing denouncement of policing in the city. That review found evidence that racial bias was rampant in the department that had long lost the public trust of its African American residents.
Among the most serious findings in the review: In nearly 90% of cases in which Ferguson documented the use of force, those actions were used against African Americans.
The review findings drew strong reaction in Ferguson where some said the report only affirmed their own experiences in the area.
Nathan Burns, 25, who lives four blocks away from Ferguson in an unincorporated city in St. Louis County, said racial bias stretches far past Ferguson and policing. He said racism impacts the lives of blacks in schools, at jobs, and in everyday interactions.
While he's encouraged by the Justice Department's findings, the high school algebra teacher hopes the report will make people reflect on the experiences of discrimination in other aspects of black life. Burns said he has been pulled more than 20 times by officers working for various St. Louis area departments in the last eight years. At times, Burns said officers, for no reason, have searched his car and home while he and friends sat on their front porches. Burns believes that he and many of his friends who are black have been targeted because of their race.
"There's a culture that has been created," Burns said. "A lot of people want to say racism is over with and that we are past that. But, time doesn't make everything disappear. Ignoring the fact that you have cancer is not going to stop you from having cancer. And, racism is like a cancer that people have been ignoring."
Ferguson real estate company owner Marion Blocker, 26, said he gets pulled over by various police departments about three times a month while driving his 2004 black Monte Carlo. He said the government's conclusions reminded him that African Americans need to be mentally prepared to remain cool during interactions with officers.
"Our reaction is everything," he said of he and other African Americans. "We need to know our rights and know how to be able to protect ourselves even if we know this is what's against us."
Blocker has learned what constitutes an illegal search as well as how to properly communicate his feelings to police if he believes an officer isn't applying the law correctly. He hopes other African Americans do the same and teach their children.
"Racism is being taught everyday," he said. "It's so ingrained in just the human existence of who we are….I fit the description but who doesn't fit the description of being black and driving?"
Michael Brown's parents, Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., released the following statement today:
"Today we received disappointing news from the Department of Justice that the killer of our son wouldn't be held accountable for his actions.
While we are saddened by this decision, we are encouraged that the DOJ will hold the Ferguson Police Department accountable for the pattern of racial bias and profiling they found in their handling of interactions with people of color.
It is our hope that through this action, true change will come not only in Ferguson, but around the country.
If that change happens, our son's death will not have been in vain."
