Fraternity offers to pay for Michael Brown’s funeral

BALTIMORE – A fraternity headquartered in Baltimore has offered to cover the funeral costs for a teenager fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Last week Alpha Phi Alpha sent a letter to the Austin A. Layne Jr. Mortuary in St. Louis, which is handling arrangements for 18-year-old Michael Brown, offering to pay the funeral bill.

Brown was shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. Brown’s death has prompted massive protests in Ferguson and across the country.

In the letter, Alpha Phi Alpha General Counsel Wayne Harvey writes that the fraternity, whose late members include Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall, has a history of fighting for social justice and racial equality.

A spokesman said Friday that the fraternity has not yet received a response.

This story was originally published August 22, 2014 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Fraternity offers to pay for Michael Brown’s funeral."