Ferguson officer who shot Michael Brown set to be cleared of civil rights charges

The U.S. Justice Department is about to close the investigation into the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, and clear the white police officer involved of any civil rights charges, media reports revealed on Wednesday.

The New York Times quoted law enforcement officials as saying that federal prosecutors had begun work on a legal memo recommending no civil rights charges against the officer, Darren Wilson, after an FBI investigation found no evidence to support charges against him.

The Justice Department declined comment.

The agency is still conducting a probe into the Ferguson police force. A St. Louis County grand jury decided last year not to prosecute Wilson.

The shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown last August led to months of sometimes violent protests in Ferguson and galvanized critics of the treatment by police and the U.S. criminal justice system of blacks and other minority groups.

A lawyer for Brown's family, Benjamin Crump, said the family would wait "for official word from the Justice Department regarding whether or not any charges will be filed against the police officer who shot and killed him.

"The family won't address speculation from anonymous sources," Crump said in a statement.