FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — A Black police officer who was critically injured during a protest marking the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson 10 years ago wanted to make “a difference from inside” the department and follow in the footsteps of his father, who was also a police officer, a former supervisor said Monday. Officer Travis Brown remained in critical condition Monday at a St.
Louis-area hospital, three days after he was attacked when an otherwise peaceful demonstration turned violent. “His family is with him every day, every hour," Ferguson police spokeswoman Patricia Washington said in an email. "We are hopeful that every day he gets a little stronger.
” Protesters were destroying a fence outside the police department late Friday, so Police Chief Troy Doyle said he sent officers to make arrests. One of the protesters tackled Travis Brown, knocking him backward, and he struck his head and suffered a severe brain injury, Doyle said. Travis Brown is not related to Michael Brown, a Black 18-year-old who was shot and killed by a white officer, Darren Wilson, during a scuffle on Aug.
9, 2014. Three separate investigations found no grounds to prosecute Wilson , who resigned in November 2014. But Michael Brown's death was a pivotal moment for the Black Lives Matter movement and led to months of often-violent protests.
It also spurred a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that required anti-discrimination changes to Ferguson policing and the courts.
Travis Brown, 36, j.