Washington, Nov 26 (IANS/EFE) The attorney for the family of Michael Brown had harsh words about the Missouri prosecutor who convened the grand jury that declined to indict white police officer Darren Wilson in the Aug 9 death of the unarmed black teenager.
"We went through as much evidence as we could and saw how completely unfair this process was," Benjamin Crump told a news conference Tuesday at a church in St. Louis, near Ferguson, the scene of the fatal shooting of Brown.
St. Louis county prosecutor Bob McCulloch announced Monday night that the grand jury did not return an indictment against Wilson.
"We object publicly and loudly on behalf of Michael Brown Jr.'s family that this process is broken. The process should be indicted," Crump said, accompanied by Michael's parents, attorney Anthony Gray and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
The Brown family and their supporters called in August for the appointment of a special prosecutor to present the case to the grand jury.
McCulloch is the son of a St. Louis police officer who was killed by a black suspect in 1964 and several other members of the prosecutor's family have worked for the police department.
"We said from the very beginning that the decision of this grand jury was going to be the direct reflection of the presentation of the evidence by the prosecutor," Gray said Tuesday. "If they present evidence to indict, there would have been an indictment."
Decrying what he called McCulloch's "symbiotic relationship" with the police, Crump focused on the prosecutor's handling of Wilson's testimony before the grand jury.
The attorneys and Sharpton repeated the Brown family's plea for people unhappy over the grand jury decision to limit themselves to peaceful protests.
Protesters in Ferguson looted stores and set fire to buildings and police vehicles Monday night in disturbances that authorities characterised as more intense than those sparked by the original shooting.
"We condemn violence and the looting last night, but we also condemn the violent acts that happened Aug 9," Crump said Tuesday.
--IANS/EFE
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