Holder "exasperated" about Ferguson investigation leaks
Attorney General Eric Holder told Justice Department lawyers that he was "exasperated" about leaks from the federal investigation into last summer's police shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old in a St. Louis suburb, a Justice official told CBS News Thursday.
Holder's comments come days after The New York Times reported that the Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown told investigators that he was in fear for his life as they struggled over the officer's gun.
At a meeting of Justice lawyers Wednesday, Holder said he was "exasperated" at the "selective flow of information coming out of Missouri," and he called the leaks "inappropriate and troubling," the Justice official told CBS News.
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A department spokeswoman told CBS News that since Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson released surveillance camera footage from a convenience store robbery before Brown was shot "there seems to be an inappropriate effort to influence public opinion about this case."
"The department considers the selective release of information in this investigation to be irresponsible and highly troubling," Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson said in a statement.
Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson told authorities that Brown reached for the gun during a scuffle, the Times reported in a story posted on its website Friday night. The officer's account to authorities did not explain why he fired at Brown multiple times after emerging from his vehicle, according to the newspaper.
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Holder "exasperated" about Ferguson investigation leaks