The DOJ Report on Ferguson Is Damning, and It's Just the Beginning

In the summer of 2012, a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, pulled up behind a parked car in which a 32-year-old black man was sitting. The man was chilling after playing some basketball. Without cause, the officer accused the man of being a pedophile. The officer subjected the man to a pat-down and asked to search the man's car. Citing his constitutional rights, the young black man refused. The officer arrested him—reportedly at gunpoint—and charged him with eight different violations. One of the charges was for giving his name as "Mike" instead of "Michael": making a false declaration. Another charge was for not wearing a seatbelt. While sitting in his parked car.

The case is highlighted on page three of the report released today by the U.S. Department of Justice outlining the findings of its six-month investigation of the Ferguson Police Department. The 99 pages that follow are not short on examples of grave violations of Ferguson residents' constitutional and civil rights.