Brother Anthony Shahid said it first, on August 10, one day after Michael Brown was killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. While organizing a group of dazed and grief-stricken people in front of Ferguson police headquarters, Shahid declared, “Attorney General Eric Holder is going to come to St. Louis and open a federal investigation into the Ferguson Police Department.” In fact, Holder did come to St. Louis on August 20 to meet with Ferguson protestors and police commanders, and on September 4 he did announce a federal probe into possible abusive patterns and practices in the Ferguson Police Department – and other police departments in the region, if the investigation leads that way. He also announced a Collaborative Reform Initiative with the St. Louis County Police Department.
Three weeks later, on September 25, Holder announced his intention to step down from the nation’s highest law enforcement position, though vowing to continue “the work” to protect and advance civil rights in the United States in a less formal capacity. We expect that some of “the work” where Holder will continue to show interest and lend insight is the federal investigation into police practices in St. Louis, where Holder took such a strong stand. He even stated on September 4 that the Department of Justice “continues to stand with the people in Ferguson” – an amazing thing for someone in his position to say about a protest movement against the police.
African Americans in St. Louis should never forget the remarks Holder made on September 4, when arguably for the first time in history a U.S. attorney general spoke candidly about law enforcement from the perspective of a black man. Holder specifically related his public comments to the “very personal” experience he had on the ground in Ferguson, saying it “sharpened my own sense of what was going on and potential need” for federal intervention. We must never forget that the sustained courage of our young people and their allies brought this powerful black man to St. Louis and taught him a few things about what it means to be policed as a black man. African Americans have understandable “bases for alienation,” Holder said, sounding more like a radical culture critic – or, indeed, a protestor – than the head of the U.S. Department of Justice.
When President Obama publicly accepted the planned resignation of his friend and colleague, he pointed to Holder’s many accomplishments, which include the successful prosecution of “hundreds of terror cases” and “the largest mafia takedown in American history.” All Americans owe Holder a thanks for these great acts of public service, protecting our nation against its worst enemies, both foreign and domestic. We also owe Holder our gratitude for his accomplishments protecting voter rights, addressing racial disparities in sentencing, and supporting full equality for gay and lesbian Americans. Nia Malika-Henderson aptly described Holder as “the black leader Obama could never be,” writing that Holder “has been a link to the civil rights community and that tradition of black protest and righteous anger.”
Indeed, African Americans – and their allies who advocate for equal treatment of all Americans by law enforcement – owe Holder and the president who appointed him a special debt of gratitude. The Collaborative Reform process currently underway in the badly mismanaged St. Louis County Police Department was introduced by Holder in 2011. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the first agency to complete the process, adopted over 75 federal recommendations regarding the use of force. We expect that federal investigators will find at least as much to correct in the St. Louis County Police Department.
We truly shudder to think what an intense federal probe of police practices will turn up in Ferguson. Holder and his team are very experienced in this type of review. Over the past five fiscal years, the Civil Rights Division has opened more than 20 pattern or practice investigations into police departments, more than twice as many as were opened in the previous five fiscal years. Under Holder’s leadership, rogue police departments – and rogue elements in any police department – have had new cause to fear federal investigators and to reform their abusive practices. With pressure from Ferguson protestors and the community of conscience their courage awakened, we expect to see profound and lasting reform of police leadership and conduct in the St. Louis region – and, for this, we offer Eric Holder our deepest thanks in advance and our warmest regards.
