posted Dec 11, 2014, 4:46 AM by Unknown user
Morgan Drake
On Nov. 24, 2014, nearly four months after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, the grand jury decided that police-officer Darren Wilson will not face any charges. This verdict caused extreme unrest amongst the citizens who believe Wilson should have been charged. There were peaceful protests as well as rioting. A dozen buildings were burned down; there was gunfire, looting, vandalism, and destruction of two St. Louis County Police patrol cars, as well as burning of various non-police cars. Some protesters took it even one step further by burning the American flag. Police in Ferguson deployed tear gas and ordered protesters in the street to leave, firing several rounds of rubber bullets. There was a total of 61 people arrested and 14 severely injured after the riots Monday night. The following day, the body of 20-year-old DeAndre Joshua was found inside a parked car near the area where Brown was killed. Joshua had been shot in the head and burned. Later that day, CNN reported that thousands of people rallied to protest the grand jury's decision in more than 170 U.S. cities from Boston to Los Angeles. They also said that National Guard forces were reinforced at Ferguson to prevent the violence from going too far. At least 90 people were arrested for arson, looting, and vandalism in Oakland, Calif. The riots also took place internationally, with protests held in several major cities in Canada and in London, United Kingdom. There were calls by protesters to boycott Black Friday shopping, which took place the Friday after the grand jury decision. Hundreds of demonstrators disrupting shopping activity at the Saint Louis Galleria and other area shopping centers. One may think the chaos would start to die down, but several incidents caused the violence to heat back up again. First, five St. Louis Rams players entered their game against the Washington Redskins on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014 with their hands up. The “hands up don’t shoot” pose is synonymous amongst Michael Brown supporters. This received a lot of negative media, as it caused law enforcement supporters to begin protests as well. Next, protests heated up when Officer Daniel Pantaleo was not convicted of killing Eric Garner with an NYPD-banned chokehold. Although there was video evidence of the officer taking down Garner, the grand jury decided he would not face charges.All of these incidences have started the trend, “Black Lives Matter”, which is prominent on Twitter and protest signs. Supporters are fighting against what they believe is racism in the United States. No one knows for sure what happened in Ferguson except for Michael Brown and Officer Darren Wilson, but everyone will surely remember the aftermath.
Images courtesy of: bbc.com (fair use) huffington.com (fair use) |
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