Slain Ferguson teen’s parents to speak at UN

The parents of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed by a white police officer near St. Louis this summer, have been invited to speak to the United Nations in Switzerland next month.

Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr. will speak at the 53rd Session of the United Nations Committee Against Torture next month.

{mosads}They will formally present a brief arguing that the killing of their son and the police response to subsequent protests violated the U.N. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

They will make their trip while a grand jury decides whether or not to charge the police officer, Darren Wilson, with a crime. The grand jurors have been meeting since late August.

Brown’s shooting this summer set off sustained protests among residents of Ferguson, Missouri, where he was killed.

The White House dispatched Attorney General Eric Holder to Missouri to address concerns over the law enforcement response and began an independent inquiry into Brown’s killing.

Jurors are sorting through conflicting accounts of what happened in the altercation between Brown and Wilson.

Some witnesses have said that Brown was fleeing from Wilson or had his hands raised in surrender. Other witnesses have reportedly given the grand jury testimony that lines up with Wilson’s version of events: that he shot Brown during a confrontation where Brown posed a threat to his life. Wilson also is said to have told the grand jury that Brown reached for and grabbed his gun.

The events in Ferguson also set off a national debate about the militarization of police forces around the country in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.