Washington - The family of the unarmed black teenager whose shooting death by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, set off weeks of protests will file suit in his death, their lawyers said on Thursday.
Michael Brown's family will file a civil lawsuit soon against the city of Ferguson and the officer, Darren Wilson, who shot him in August, lawyers told a press conference.
The lawyers noted that the burden of proof required in a civil suit is less than that needed for criminal charges.
A federal investigation released on Wednesday found patterns of racial discrimination by police in Ferguson, but the US Justice Department said it would not file charges against Wilson. Local officials had previously announced their decision not to file criminal charges.
The killing set off weeks of protests, but after conducting thousands of interviews, the Justice Department could not prove that Wilson had violated civil rights laws when he killed the 18-year-old Brown.
However, the incident occurred in an environment that routinely targeted African Americans as the Ferguson police disproportionately stopped African-American motorists for traffic violations and committed other civil rights violations, the Justice Department found.
Sapa-dpa