An international human rights commission is investigating the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, Jr., the Black teen whose 2014 death became a catalyst for the racial justice movement.
Brown’s mother Lezley McSpadden filed a claim against the U.S. with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2023, alleging that the government deprived her son’s right to life. A hearing on the matter was held last month, shortly before the 10 year anniversary of his death.
Brown was fatally shot by a white police officer who had stopped him on a street in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014. Officer Darren Wilson resigned, but was never charged in the case. Brown’s death sparked protests across the nation and amplified the Black Lives Matter movement.
Turning to the global community
McSpadden is asking the commission to demand the U.S. Department of Justice appoint a special prosecutor to investigate, arguing that there was racial bias in the original probes. She said that Wilson’s decision to stop her son, who was walking in the middle of the street with a friend, was “arbitrary” and “improper.”
“Primarily, I lost hope in the justice system,” McSpadden told commissioners.
The Justice Department defended its investigation into Brown’s death as “careful and exhaustive.” Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, noted in her testimony that the agency was still monitoring the Ferguson Police Department.
Clarke added “There still is much work left to be done to eradicate racially discriminatory and unconstitutional policing in America.”
Brown’s mother is also asking the commission to demand Missouri’s governor appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the decisions not to prosecute Wilson.
McSpadden declined to speak with NPR. Her attorney Justin Hansford said she views this case as a pivotal moment for justice.
“Our petition serves as a vital platform for Lezley, enabling her to share her narrative on a global scale,” he said. “We draw from a rich heritage within the Black radical tradition, which has long harnessed the power of global discourse to advocate for justice. Visionaries such as Paul Robeson, Marcus Garvey, Ida B. Wells, and Angela Davis, along with esteemed human rights lawyers like Randall Robinson and Gay McDougall, have exemplified this commitment throughout history.”
A mother’s loss
During the hearing, McSpadden also spoke of her loss, describing her son as brilliant. “He was really great with figuring things out on his own,” she told the commission. “He was great at computers. He would have been a part of this large tech world, if Michael was still here.”
She said his death has left behind a void in the family.
“My children miss him terribly. They sit around and reminisce about Mike all the time,” she said. “He never had a job. He never learned how to drive. He was just beginning his life.”
The commission will release a report and make recommendations to the government in the coming months, but it has no authority to enforce them. The commission declined to comment.
Former Assistant Secretary of the commission Ariel Dulitzky says if the U.S. fails to take recommendations seriously, Washington could risk losing credibility on human rights in the international community.
Dulitzky adds the commission’s decision to hear arguments brings an important element of international involvement in the case.
“And now, it’s not just the family saying my right to justice was violated, but the U.S. has to justify its actions in front of this impartial body,” Dulitzky told NPR.
McSpadden and Brown’s father, Michael Brown, Sr. received a $1.5 million settlement from the City of Ferguson in a federal wrongful death lawsuit in 2017.
