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Groups Deliver Ferguson Petitions to White House

More than 900,000 people have signed the petitions seeking justice for Michael Brown.

Representatives from several groups, including Color of Change and Move On, delivered to the White House on Aug. 28 petitions with more than 900,000 signatures calling on Attorney General Eric Holder and Missouri law enforcement officials to "complete a rigorous investigation of the Ferguson Police Department's racially discriminatory policing, prosecute said officers to the fullest extent of the law, and begin the firing process for all involved officers."

They were joined by dozens of protesters who gathered at Lafayette Park across from the White House, where they demanded justice for Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.

"We are here to demand justice for Michael Brown and to call on the Obama administration to set a higher standard for policing across the country and advance policies and financial incentives for law enforcement to meet that standard," Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color of Change, said at the rally before heading into a meeting with White House officials. "We need a standard for anti-bias police training across the country and real federal data collection on police brutality broken down by race. We need new and improved federal mechanisms for police oversight that brings about real accountability and an end to the type of cover-ups that send a message to law enforcement and the country that Black and brown folks aren’t worthy of due process, protection or dignity."

The organization also has started a petition demanding that the fundraising website GoFundMe return the profits it made in campaigns that raised more than $400,000 for Wilson and is aiming for one signature for every dollar raised for the Ferguson police officer.

"Profiting off the killing of Michael Brown is not okay. Profiting off of racially-motivated donors is not okay," the petition reads. "These types of disturbing fundraising efforts have no place on the world's #1 personal fundraising site."

 Follow Joyce Jones on Twitter: @BETpolitichick.

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(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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