Outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder said he was “disappointed” in the backlash that followed a grand jury’s decision not to indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown.
“It is clear, I think, that acts of violence threaten to drown out those who have legitimate voices, legitimate demonstrators,” Holder said. “Those acts of violence cannot and will not be condoned.”
{mosads}Holder hailed peaceful protesters in the St. Louis suburb as “heroes, in my mind” and said his staff was working with nonviolent demonstrators. The Justice Department is conducting a civil rights investigation into the Aug. 9 shooting and also probing police practices of the Ferguson Police Department.
Holder’s remarks come a day after a grand jury decided against charging Wilson in the killing of the unarmed African-American teenager, sparking national protests across the country.