City Of Ferguson's Dropped Charges 'Just Another Step' Amid 'Systemic Failure'
A Justice Department report used Fred Watson's case as an example of the city's systemic civil rights violations against black residents. Although the charges were tossed, he doesn't feel vindicated.
Editor's note: Language featured in this piece may be considered offensive to some.
With the police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014, "Ferguson" became shorthand for racial strife and police shootings of unarmed black men.
But years before the protests and chants of "Hands up, don't shoot," there was something amiss in the Ferguson, Mo., police department.
Before Michael Brown, there was Fred Watson.
Watson, a veteran and St. Louis native, was at a public park in Ferguson that summer, playing basketball with friends. He says he spotted a police officer wandering through the park, "randomly selecting people" and arresting them.
After he was finished playing basketball, Watson sat in
