Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on her visit to Ferguson, Missouri on Monday to attend the funeral of Michael Brown, an unarmed African American teenager who was killed by police earlier this month in the St. Louis suburb.

In the weeks since Michael Brown was killed, hundreds of nonviolent protestors have been attacked with the same military equipment that was used during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, such as armored vehicles, machine guns, and chemical weapons. Congresswoman Clarke will attend the funeral services with a delegation from the Congressional Black Caucus organized by Congressman William Lacy Clay, Jr.

“On behalf of the people of the Ninth Congressional District of New York, I will share my condolences with the family of Michael Brown and the community of Ferguson, Missouri, where residents – most of whom are people of color – have for many years been denied their rights under our Constitution by local authorities. Unfortunately, their rights are still under threat today,” said Congresswoman Clarke. “As a society, we have a responsibility to the family of Michael Brown and to the people of his community to secure for them the rights to which all of us are entitled. I urge Attorney General Eric Holder to pursue a full investigation of the killing of Michael Brown.”

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.