Attorneys for the police force and prosecutor that oversaw the grand jury investigation after Michael Brown's 2014 death in Ferguson have asked a federal judge to consider blocking the release of "grisly" photographs of the black 18-year-old's body to his family's attorneys, worried they could prompt violence if leaked.
The St. Louis County police and prosecutor made that request in a court filing Tuesday related to a wrongful-death lawsuit by Brown's family.
The filing warned that if the images became public they "may provoke unbridled violence."
The grand jury in November 2014 declined to indict a white officer, Darren Wilson, in Brown's shooting. Brown's death prompted violence in Ferguson and helped spawn the Black Lives Matter protest movement.