Darren Wilson will not face federal charges in Michael Brown shooting

Evidence that Wilson intentionally victimised Brown because of his race would have been needed for civil rights officials to prosecute the 28-year-old officer

Jon Swaine and Oliver Laughlandin New York

Published: 12:34 EST Wednesday, 04 March 2015

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Wilson’s supporters accused Eric Holder of burying news on the same day his officials accused Ferguson police of a pattern of racial bias. Photograph: Handout/Getty Images

Darren Wilson, the white police officer whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri, led to months of unrest and revived a debate on race and law enforcement in the US, will not face federal criminal charges.

The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that after a six-month inquiry it has concluded no civil rights charges should be brought against Wilson for killing Michael Brown. A grand jury in St Louis decided last November not to indict Wilson on state charges.

The decision concludes the second half of a politically-charged investigation into Wilson’s shooting of Brown on 9 August following an altercation in a residential side-street.