Based on the latest Ferguson protest update, Officer Darren Wilson resigned from the Ferguson Police Department as the protests intensified. Wilson, is the police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown last August.
According to the latest Ferguson protest update, Wilson's attorney, Neil J. Bruntrager said his client submitted a resignation letter, which was first published in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Wilson had been called to quit or be fired since the shooting of Michael Brown that sparked the unrest in the state. The crisis intensified as the grand jury's decision was announced last Monday.
Wilson's resignation came after the Ferguson police department told him it received threats of violence if he remained employed in the police force. Based on the Ferguson protest update by the CNN, the shooting incident fueled global protests and the Monday announcement of no indictment sparked another round of rallies, which continued through the week and into the weekend.
In Wilson's resignation letter, the officer said resigning was the "hardest thing." On a Ferguson protest update by BBC News, Wilson's lawyer stated his client's resignation was effective immediately.
"I have been told that my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that I cannot allow," Darren Wilson said. "For obvious reasons, I wanted to wait until the grand jury made their decision before I officially made my decision to resign."
"It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me," Wilson added. "It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal."
In a subsequent Saturday night interview, Wilson said resigning was of his own free will.
"I'm resigning of my own free will. I'm not willing to let someone else get hurt because of me," Wilson stated.
Officer Darren Wilson had worked in the Ferguson department since 2011. But the Ferguson protest strengthened after the protesters were unsatisfied by the jury's decision on Monday, as per the latest The New York Times update.
Since the grand jury's decision, the Ferguson protest was part of the demonstrations here and across the country touching on police tactics, race and poverty that are widening toward a second week.
In line with the Ferguson protest update, the US Justice Department is conducting separate investigations into the killing and into the Ferguson Police Department's practices. Both investigations are currently ongoing.
