(CNN) -- A Virgin Islands jury has found a veteran Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives special agent not guilty of using excessive force when he intervened and fatally shot a man during a domestic argument in 2008. ATF Special Agent William G. Clark was cleared of charges Thursday in a case that enraged many federal law enforcement officers who said Clark was heroically coming to the defense of a battered woman. "ATF has been steadfast in its support of Special Agent Clark and wholeheartedly agrees with the jury's verdict," said Thomas Brandon, ATF deputy director, in a written statement. ATF officials said Clark was confronted by Marcus Sukow on September 7, 2008, and "took immediate action to defend himself and others by discharging his firearm to stop the attack."
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The charge against Special Agent William G. Clark enraged many federal law officers
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He had intervened in a domestic argument in 2008
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A federal investigation cleared him, but Virgin Islands police charged him with murder
Federal authorities were so incensed by the Virgin Island's prosecution of Clark -- and so concerned other federal agents could similarly be prosecuted -- that they removed all @placeholder agents from the Virgin Islands in 2008, a policy that continues today, the agency said.