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Lawsuit filed against Ferguson police

A FEDERAL lawsuit was filed on Thursday alleging that US police in Ferguson and St Louis County used excessive force and falsely arrested innocent bystanders after the shooting of black 18-year-old Michael Brown.

The five plaintiffs include a clinical social worker who charged that she and her 17-year-old son had been roughed up and arrested after not evacuating a McDonald’s quickly enough.

They also included a 23-year-old man who was shot multiple times with rubber bullets and another man who was arrested simply for filming the disturbances.

“The police were completely out of control,” said Malik Shabazz of Black Lawyers for Justice.

“In those initial days, it was virtually a police riot.”

The lawsuit seeks $40 million (£24m) damages and names Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson, St Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, officer Justin Cosma and several unnamed officers identified collectively as John Doe.

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