The family of teenager Michael Brown announced that they will soon be filing a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Officer Darren Wilson formerly of the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department. This announcement comes less than 24 hours of a staving report from the Department of Justice(DOJ) concluding that the police department and city officials had routinely practiced racial bias and profiling but there was no solid evidence of wrongdoing by the Officer Wilson. Based on the DOJ report here are the top 10 reasons why you should not visit or move to Ferguson anytime soon:
10. Even though the city of Ferguson is 67% Black, the mayor is White and they only have one Black council member. Lack of representation over the years has lead to systemic racism that reached its boiling point in 2014.
9. The DOJ concluded that even though Ferguson is 67% Black, they received 85% of the traffic stops, 90% of the citations, and 93% of the arrests made.
8. Minor offenses such as parking tickets lead to crippling debt and jail time due to one's inability to pay. Many Blacks have also lost their drivers license.
7. Over 96% of the warrants issued by the city of Ferguson was for Blacks and less than 68% of their cases were dismissed.
6. Police and court staff joked about a black woman having abortions as a way of decreasing crime.
5. The city financial coordinator and the police chief worked together regarding ways of how to increase city revenue through citations. The number of citations jumped from 400 to 700 in one month.
4. Police/City officials mocked President Obama depicting him as a chimpanzee.
3. Violations of first amendment rights including the recording of police activities and lawfully protesting perceived injustices.
2. African-Americans are more than twice as likely to be searched during vehicle stops, but are found in possession of contraband 26% less often than white drivers.
1. Violations of your fourth amendment rights with unreasonable searches and seizures(Just sitting at the bus stop can get you arrested if you're not careful.)
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