Ferguson unrest

This article covers the Protests and unrest that occurred following the Shooting of Michael Brown.

See also: Timeline of the shooting of Michael Brown

Following the Shooting of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014, peaceful protests and civil disorder broke out the next day (August 10) and lasted for over a week. As the details of the original shooting event emerged from investigators, police grappled with establishing curfews and maintaining order, while members of the Ferguson community (and rumors of outside actors) demonstrated in various ways in the vicinity of the original shooting.

Original Shooting Incident

See also: shooting of Michael Brown

The shooting of Michael Brown occurred on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, United States, a suburb of St. Louis. Brown, an 18-year-old man, died after being shot at least six times by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, 28. Brown was unarmed and had no criminal record. According to Ferguson police, Brown was a suspect in a robbery committed minutes before the shooting, although the initial contact between Wilson and Brown was unrelated to the robbery. While the details of the investigation and the identity of the police officer loomed, popular grief turned to demonstrations.

Overview of Protest and Unrest in Ferguson

The protests began the day after the event. On August 10, a day of memorials began peacefully, but some crowd members became unruly after an evening candlelight vigil. Local police stations assembled approximately 150 officers in riot gear. Some people began looting businesses, vandalizing vehicles and confronting police who sought to block off access to several areas of the city. At least 12 businesses were looted or vandalized, a gas station was set on fire, leading to over 30 arrests. Many windows were broken and several nearby businesses closed on Monday. The people arrested face charges of assault, burglary and theft. Police used a variety of equipment, including riot gear and helicopters, to disperse the crowd by 2:00 a.m. Two police officers suffered minor injuries during the events.

Thereafter, every day brought additional protests and demonstrations and additional reactions by law enforcement officials. The nightly "violent clashes" in the streets were widely portrayed in news media, with, for example, some images of demonstrators throwing glass bottles and other images of police in riot gear using tear gas. In other cases, there were reports of protestors and law enforcement working together to prevent looting, or of Ferguson community members providing hotdogs to law enforcement officials even as they awaited justice in the shooting of Michael Brown.

External links

• Day 1
  • Surveillance video that police contend shows Michael Brown robbing a convenience store.
  • Ferguson Police Department incident report of contemporaneous convenience store robbery
  • Video interview of eyewitness Dorian Johnson on CNN
  • Video of St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar giving his department's version of the circumstances and events that led to the death of Michael Brown
  • Video interview of eyewitness Tiffany Mitchell on CNN
  • Video interview of eyewitness discussing the events that ended in vandalism, looting, and burning of Quik Trip store.
• Day 5: Rachel Maddow interview with City Alderman, Antonio French the day after his arrest in Ferguson on charges of disorderly conduct
• Day 8: Ty Pruitt, Cousin of Michael Brown, pleads for peace from looters