Amid a torrent of leaks from a supposedly closed grand jury investigation, Amnesty International on Friday publicly released some broader observations about Ferguson.
The thrust is captured in the report’s title: “ On the Streets of America: Human Rights Abuses in Ferguson.” The report, based on an Amnesty International delegation visit to the embattled community in mid-August, offers a number of recommendations, including a proposal to amend the Missouri statute that authorizes the use of lethal force.
The report also includes some basic factual summaries, including the detail that “according to data provided to Amnesty International by the St. Louis County Police Department, in the 12 days following the death of Michael Brown, 172 arrests were made in the Ferguson protest zone. The arrest data shows that 132 people were arrested solely for refusal to disperse, 21 for burglary related charges, and four for assaulting police officers.”