by Our Foreign Desk

LAWYERS for the parents of Michael Brown, the black teenager shot dead by a white police officer in a St Louis suburb, filed a civil lawsuit yesterday against the city of Ferguson.

The family’s attorneys had announced at a press conference in early March that a wrongful death lawsuit would be filed “soon.”

The lawsuit did not mention ex-police officer Darren Wilson, who shot the unarmed 18-year-old.

Mr Brown’s shooting spawned a national Black Lives Matter movement calling for changes in the way police deal with minorities and drawing attention to how frequently black men die at the hands of white officers.

A St Louis County grand jury and the US Justice Department declined to prosecute Mr Wilson, who resigned in November.

However, the Justice Department released a scathing report last month, citing racial bias and profiling in the Ferguson Police Department and a profit-driven municipal court system that frequently targets black residents.

Several city officials resigned following the review, including the city manager, police chief and municipal judge. The municipal court clerk was fired for sending racist emails.

Demonstrators who launched a week of protests in Baltimore to demand justice for Freddie Gray took to the streets again on Wednesday.

Mr Gray, who was black, died from a spinal injury he suffered under mysterious circumstances while in police custody after being handcuffed and put in the back of a police van.

The 25-year-old died in hospital a week after his April 12 arrest, prompting mass street protests.