A day after zealous police clashed with protesters and fired tear gas at demonstrators and the media, the Justice Department announced it’s increasing its involvement in the review of an officer who shot an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Mo., Time reports.
The efforts include sending advisers to meet with local law enforcement, government leaders and local faith leaders.
The Justice Department also is sending its head of the criminal section of the department’s civil rights division.
Holder suggested in a letter that local police may be escalating tensions.
“The law enforcement response to these demonstrations must seek to reduce tensions, not heighten them,” Holder said.
Michael Brown was killed Saturday by a police officer who witnesses say shot the young man while he was not posing a threat.
