ST. LOUIS — Prosecutors in Ferguson, Mo., have dropped charges against a Navy veteran who lost his job after his arrest five years ago in a case highlighted in a scathing U.S. Department of Justice report, attorneys for the man said Tuesday.
Fred Watson was sitting in his car after playing pickup basketball in 2012 when an officer approached and eventually pointed a gun at his head. Watson contended that he did nothing wrong but was eventually charged with nine municipal counts for offenses such as driving with an expired license and failing to wear a seatbelt.
All nine charges were dropped Monday. No explanation was given, but the decision came a week after a New York Times article that said the persistent charges against Watson raised doubts about reform in Ferguson.
Watson, a black 37-year-old, single father from St. Louis, said in a statement that the decision to drop charges won’t get him his job back. He had worked as a government cybersecurity contractor for nearly 10 years at the time of his arrest, including two years with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He had top-secret security clearance, which he lost because of the arrest.
“I don’t have my security clearance,” Watson said. “I’m looking for work, and I’m worried about how we are going to keep the lights on and food on the table.”
Watson said Ferguson and other municipal courts around St. Louis “have destroyed the lives of families throughout this region.”
The Justice Department launched an investigation into Ferguson after the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in August 2014. The shooting of the unarmed, black 18-year-old by a white police officer led to months of unrest. A grand jury and the Justice Department declined to prosecute the officer, Darren Wilson, who resigned in November 2014.
But the case brought to light long-standing concerns about racial intimidation and profiling in the St. Louis County town. The Justice Department investigation resulted in a settlement requiring the city to change its police and court practices.
Ferguson prosecutor Lee Goodman said Tuesday that the settlement with the Justice Department included an agreement that certain types of cases filed in Ferguson before 2014 would not be pursued, and the charges against Watson were in that category.
City Attorney Apollo Carey declined to comment. Watson’s case was cited near the top of the Justice Department report. It does not identify him by name but said what happened to him was an example of how “relatively routine misconduct by Ferguson police officers can have significant consequences for the people whose rights are violated.”