The FBI joined local officials in interviewing more than 200 peopleand looked at much the same evidenceas a St. Louis County grand jury that decided in November not to indict Wilson, who is white, on any charges in Brown’s death. That federal law enforcement agency has now completed its investigation into the August shooting and sent its findings to the Justice Department, a law enforcement official and a separate U.S. official said Wednesday.
Based on that probe, Justice Department prosecutors won’t recommend civil rights charges against Wilson because there is not sufficient evidence to support them, a U.S. official told CNN.
The New York Times first reported the development Wednesday.
The Justice Department report has not been completed, and Attorney General Eric Holder ultimately will make the final decision whether to press federal civil rights charges against Wilson.
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“That’s a good thing,” he said. “But we want to keep them peaceful, nonviolent because violence makes the situation worse. It divides the community in a time we need to come together and make everyone feel like they can get equal protection.”
Ultimately, he said, some of the protesters’ goals can be achieved outside the courts.
“The next steps I think are legislative change,” French said, “trying to make sure that in cases like this we get a special prosecutor by law, and to create a new level of civilian oversight over police departments.”
CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz, Catherine E. Shoichet, Dave Alsup, Jethro Mullen and Wolf Blitzer contributed to this report.
