[JURIST] The FBI, US Attorney General for the Eastern District of Missouri Richard G. Callahan and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Molly Moran [official websites] on Friday released a statement [text] announcing the next steps in the federal civil rights investigation into the recent killing of Michael Brown in Missouri. The team plans to continue interviewing witnesses to conduct a thorough and complete investigation of the incident.

Following the shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in Florida in 2012 the US has confronted the issue [JURIST report] of racial profiling by police units, and the recent killing of Brown has reinvigorated similar concerns. On Thursday the parents of Trayon Martin and a similar victim addressed racial discrimination [ACLU report] in the US before the United Nations. On Monday the US Attorney General announced [press release] a statement declaring the investigation of the Brown shooting will receive a “fulsome review.” On Tuesday the FBI opened a probe [WSJ report] into the shooting. Also this week Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy websites] issued reports [JURIST report] alleging the use of police force and intimidation tactics to dispel largely nonviolent protestors following the shooting threatens constitutional freedoms. In late June the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] published a report [JURIST report] arguing that increased militarization of police forces is putting citizens at risk rather than protecting them.