President Obama conceded Friday that the public “may never know exactly what happened” in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., standing behind his Justice Department’s decision not to bring civil rights charges against police officer Darren Wilson.
With Eric Holder in attendance, Obama was asked by a college student at a town hall in Columbia, S.C., why his administration didn’t charge Wilson, who claimed he shot and killed Brown in self-defense.
“We may never know exactly what happened,” Obama told the crowd.
“You can’t just charge him anyway because what happened was tragic,” the president added of Wilson. “I have complete confidence and stand by the decision that was made by the Justice Department on that issue.”
Still Obama said the events in Ferguson showcased “what is clearly a broken and racially-biased system.”
A Justice Department report this week accused the Ferguson Police Department of systematic racial bias, highlighting the alleged targeting of minorities for routine traffic stops, even without reasonable cause. Ferguson officials have not yet decided how to respond to the accusations.
