FERGUSON, Mo. — Ferguson City Manager John Shaw resigned Tuesday in the wake of a scathing Justice Department report. The report blames Ferguson, Missouri, police and courts for abusive behavior that disproportionately targets African-American residents.
“Over the last several months I have done everything in my power to work with countless groups to bring about positive change and strengthen our community,” Shaw wrote in his resignation letter.
He continued: “During this time I have also worked closely with the Department of Justice to identify opportunities to improve, and then moved quickly to implement its recommendations for change. And while I certainly respect the work that the DOJ recently performed in their investigation and report on the City of Ferguson, I must state clearly that my office has never instructed the police department to target African Americans, nor falsify charges to administer fines, nor heap abuses on the backs of the poor. Any inferences of that kind from the report are simply false.”
