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Ferguson City Manager Moves Down From His Post

| Mar 11, 2015 01:57 PM EDT

Ferguson City Manager John Shaw

City manager of Ferguson, Missouri, John Shaw was dismissed from his job on Tuesday evening.

Shaw stayed hidden from the public through months of turmoil in the city after the shooting incident of an unarmed black 18-year-old, signed and stated "mutual separation agreement" that was ratified unanimously by the city council.

Shaw said, according to Washington Post, that he had decided, although with a heavy heart, that it is for the good of the community that he step aside from his job as a chief executive.

Shaw was appointed in 2007, upon his dismissal, he said: "I believe that with our coming municipal election it is the appropriate time for the city to experience change in its city manager."

On Tuesday, he became the fifth city official who was removed from a job following the publication of the Justice Department's report last week regarding its inquiry into Ferguson's courts and policing system, which was sparked by the upheaval following Michael Brown's death.

In the past two weeks, two senior police commanders resigned, while the court clerk was fired for the over racist emails that was uncovered by the federal investigators, according to The Guardian. Ronald J. Brockmeyer, on the other hand, resigned as Ferguson's municipal judge on Monday. Brockmeyer was accused by the Justice Department's report that he was fixing traffic tickets for associates while instigating an aggressive court fees policy.

Eric Holder, the US attorney general, upbraided the Ferguson's police for creating a rather "toxic environment defined by mistrust and resentment" that had been set off "like a powder keg" due to Wilson's shooting of Brown.

Shaw also defended himself against associations and accusations of racism in the statement he gave on Tuesday as he was found by investigators to have forwarded an email perpetuating stereotypes of Latinos.

He said that his 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."

City authorities have issued a statement saying that the responsibilities Shaw left would be shared by the other officials until an appropriate replacement was found.

Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III said that they appreciate Shaw's service and commitment to the city for the past eight years. However, the council and Shaw himself feel as though it is about time for the city to begin anew and look for a replacement to him.

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