The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri became a controversial media sensation. The shooting created uproar and mistrust towards police officers. Many believed the shooting was unjustified and even an act of racism on the behalf of the police Officer Darren Wilson. The Department of Justice issued an investigation in order to understand the basis of the shooting and to decide whether or not to charge Darren Wilson in the shooting. Despite the evidence and the investigation which portrayed the shooting as an act of self- defense, the shooting still remains controversial. On the day leading up to the shooting Michael Brown and his friend robbed a convenience store. They stole approximately 50 dollars worth of cigarillos. Video …show more content…
The report included testimony from Officer Darren Wilson, physical evidence, forensic evidence, and many witnesses. According to the Department of Justice report on the incident, Officer Darren Wilson was driving after finishing one of his calls and saw Michael Brown and his friend walking on the double yellow line in the middle of the street blocking traffic. According to his account, officer Wilson told them to move to the sidewalk in which they ignored. He then noticed they fit the descriptions he had earlier heard of the suspects of the robbery, he then parked his vehicle blocking traffic. He attempted to get out of his vehicle to speak to the boys but apparently Michael Brown blocked the car door and started to punch the officer. They engaged in a scuffle where Officer Wilson reached for his gun in which he claims that all he had access to. Michael Brown tried to take control of the gun, according to Wilson’s account. (Department of Justice, 2015) Officer Wilson then regained control of the gun and shot Michael Brown’s hand. Michael Brown then took off and Wilson chased him on foot. Brown started coming towards Wilson. Many witnesses even described Brown as “charging” towards Wilson. (McLaughlin, E. C. (2014, August 15) Wilson warned Brown multiple times and Brown kept moving forward towards Wilson …show more content…
The family of Michael Brown wanted justice for their son in which they felt was an unjust shooting. His mother was quoted expressing mistrust towards the police, "You 're not God. You don 't decide when you 're going to take somebody from here.” (McLaughlin, E. C. (2014, August 15) The family was obviously hurt by the shooting and wanted justice and support. The community began protesting the shooting and Officer Darren Wilson. Chaos broke out in Ferguson and a State of Emergency was issued. The community felt that the shooting was unjust and did not trust police officers. The community response to the shooting often attracted attention and made many political statements. Darren Wilson’s family were interested in maintaining his innocence. They hoped that the investigation would prove to the world that Wilson acted out of self-defense and did not violate Brown’s rights. The Criminal Justice system’s interests all hoped to create reforms and eliminate racism in police departments. On the local level many had to maintain safety in the community and assure proper police procedures. The state had to step into issue curfews and State of Emergencies to keep the state safe despite protests and riots as well as make sure Darren Wilson did not violate any laws of the state of Missouri. The state also hoped to create reforms to better race relations. On the federal level was the investigation which hoped to find out if the
Racial discrimination in our society has reached its tipping point such that rioting has become a last resort. After the deaths of two young African American males that occurred due to police brutality , the public has been in an uproar, fighting and hoping for change;however the means of fighting aren’t seen as appropriate. The majority of the population argues that the rioting that had occurred in Baltimore and Ferguson, where the shootings happened, were unjustified. The media depicted the rioting to be criminalized and unrelated to the cause. It was portrayed that African Americans took the deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray as an excuse to loot and raid.On contrary to popular belief, the rioting in Baltimore and Ferguson were adequate actions that took place. It wasn’t until the rioting occurred that investigations of these cases followed. Because of the investigation it was found that the problems at hand were more than racial issues highlighted by police brutality, but racial abuse in the system of the cities.
Shootings at Kent State University What happened at Kent State University? This is a question that many Americans were asking following the crisis on the Kent campus. In the days preceding May 4, 1970, protests, disruption, and violence erupted on the university grounds. These acts were the students’ reaction to President Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, the author of the article “School Segregation, the Continuing Tragedy of Ferguson,” (2014) writes about how the Normandy school district in which Ferguson students attend, ranked at the very bottom of all Missouri schools for performance. As relayed by Hannah-Jones (2014), the Normandy school district is “among the poorest and most segregated in Missouri” (p. 2). The August 2014 shooting death of a young African-American, Michael Brown, by a white police officer, spurred riots not only in St. Louis, but also in other cities nationwide. Black and white children in the St. Louis region remain educationally divided, and the state Board of Education knows what needs to change in order for black children to gain a better
There were no charges made against officer Wilson even with the suspects that claimed Michael Brown didn't do anything wrong . Police brutality has made black people take a stand and they formed the Black Lives Matter Movement.The Black Lives Matter movement started in 2012 after George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch coordinator for the gated community, shot and killed Trayvon Martin. Following Martin’s death protests, rallies, and marches were held all across the nation. The Black Lives Matter movement includes all the ways in which black lives are less powerful at the hands of the state, it is a call for action against brutality by police and vigilantes, people who take the law into their own hands by trying to catch or punish someone in their own way. Politicians are also trying to straighten gun laws to prevent homicides like Bernie Sanders. Sanders wants stricter background checks so guns won’t be in the wrong hands. He also wants to ban assault weapons to citizens that were made to kill people. I personally think this can help improve our nation because it will give people with a criminal history less chances of owning guns but it also gives a right to people without a criminal background to be able to own guns for their own
This Ferguson Riot cartoon picture was written by Steve Sack, an American cartoonist who won a 2013 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. He has made many cartoons and the one we will be focusing on today is the one above.This cartoon is based on the Ferguson Riots that took place in 2014. It started on August 9, 2014 when police officer, Darren Wilson, shot teenager, Michael Brown. We are still not 100% sure what really happened but autopsy reports indicated that 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot in the hand at close range during an altercation with Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. It also showed that he was shot six times, with gunshot wounds to his chest and head as a cause of death. It is still not clarified whether Brown tried
Ferguson the little adjunct town of Missouri, where not much but a normal day proceeds. Until the day of August ninth of twenty fourteen. A young man was shoot by a Ferguson police officer. Michael Brown (the man that was shoot), was only eighteen years of age and he was shot by Darren Wilson (the police officer) sparked controversy in that little town of Ferguson. Many questions were asked on who was actually at fault. Was it Browns fault for assaulting the officer or was it Wilsons fault on the case of police brutality. There are always people that are going to try to make the other look bad because they supposedly saw what happened, but did they really. The fact of it being is that you may never find out the truth because Michael is dead and the only one that knows the absolute truth is Wilson, seeing he shot Brown, and that is also if he is telling the correct situation of the matter. Mike Brown shouldn’t have been shot, he was an un-armed man, but was he really innocent?
On August 9, 2014 Mike Brown and Darren Wilson were on a collision course to faithful meeting ending with Mike Brown's death. Mike Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson robbed a convenience store of cigarillos. Mr. Brown is seen on surveillance video shoving one of the grocers on his way out. At 18 years old, Big Mike as Dorian calls him is an imposing 6'4" 290lbs.
To citizens, Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown of out racial prejudice. To police officers, Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown out of self defense. The media focused mainly on the citizens negative reactions, consequently labeling Darren Wilson as a racist murderer. The officer received numerous death threats, putting his life in danger. Ben Brumfield and Brian Todd, reporters for CNN state, “Fellow officers have been by [Darren Wilson’s] side day and night, as deadly threats have driven the former Ferguson police officer into hiding…” This is a prime example that media can ruin the lives of officers, as well as put them in legitimate
Crime manifests itself in various ways in society and oftentimes difficult to pinpoint what drives people to commit certain actions. The Columbine shooting was a particular incident that ended in tears and suffering which resulted in numerous research as to what was going through the minds of these young individuals at the time of the shooting. Therefore, this paper will analyze specifically the role of differential association- reinforcement as altered by Akers in propelling Dylan Klebold to commit such heinous act, while also giving credit to Edwin Sutherland for first formulating the framework of differential association.
The night following Brown’s shooting, police dressed in riot gear came to break up an unruly crowd following a prayer vigil held in Brown’s memory. The following day, officers had to resort to using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a massive crowd at a local convenience store that had been burned down and looted earlier. On August 13, the local government instated a mandatory curfew due to the reoccurring violence from the preceding days. I don’t believe the protesters are justified in looting the stores in the area, however I do believe they are justified in protesting the local government on not providing justice for the situation. Whether Michael Brown fought the officer or not, he still had his hands up when Wilson’s gun was drawn. When someone’s hands are up in the air that usually means they are surrendering themselves from the situation. The autopsy shows that with the way the bullets hit his body, he was more than likely in a hands up position. This is the second time fatal violence against and unarmed black teenager has occurred, the first being Trayvon Martin. With the way that case turned out, it’s safe to infer that Wilson will face no justice for shooting Brown. Our government claims to “protect” us under law, however it fails to do its job. We aren’t honoring Michael through the violence and looting, but we are through the peaceful protests in order to gain justice for his
Police officers provide an important and necessary function; however, in recent months, there have been many people who have expressed their opinion about the police acting inappropriately. The displeased people feel that the police have discriminated against and mistreated African Americans. One widely known example of perceived mistreatment is the case of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. According to Buchanan, Fessenden, and Lai (2015), Michael Brown stole merchandise from a convenience store and proceeded to walk down the middle of the street. Officer Wilson stopped him and recognized Brown as a suspect in the robbery (Buchanan et al., 2015). According
Two teenagers were walking in the middle of the street just minutes from their homes when a police officer pulled up and scolded them to get on the sidewalk. Explaining that they were approaching their destination shortly, the two teenagers were compliant to the policeman's requests and began their way to the nearby sidewalk. Not satisfied with their obedience, the police officer swerved his car onto the sidewalk, blocking traffic, and swung his door to hit the men. The door, however, did not open fully which left the police officer seething with anger as he then felt compelled to reach out and strangle one of the teenage boys. Pulling away from the officer's unwavering grasp, the teenage boy was unable to get free until the police officer
Racial profiling is a form of discrimination in which a person of authority acts against individuals because they are members of certain races or ethnicities. Rather than act on an individual’s behavior, law enforcement officers and government officials have prejudices against particular groups of people. They assume that individuals of a certain race or ethnicity are likely to participate in deviant and illegal activities. For this reason, African Americans drivers are more likely to be arrested than drivers of the white population; African Americans also are more predisposed of being suspects in a crime. In fact, on August 9, 2014 Officer Darren Wilson, a white officer, fired twelve shots at unarmed Michael Brown, a black man. Wilson confronted stopped Brown to confront him about stolen cigarillos, because Brown fit the description of the suspect. Many reports state that Brown was disarmed and rose his hand to surrender; however, Wilson’s distrust and prejudice against people of Brown’s race made him believe that Brown initiated an act of violence. Thus Wilson, assuming Brown was about to
On the night of August 9th, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed an unarmed, 18 year old, Michael Brown. Officer Wilson was tried for the murder of Michael Brown by the state of Missouri’s Grand Jury and was found not guilty. Officer Wilson was not wearing a body camera. The town of Ferguson was outraged as violent riots and protests broke out because of the ruling (Buchanan). Mentioned in Larry Buchanan’s New York Times article titled “What Happened in Ferguson?” Many citizens of Ferguson and others who heard about the story across the United States argue that Officer Wilson used excessive force in the altercation and should be guilty of murder; however, the court and jury members believed differently.
Witness claim young Mr. Brown was told by police officer to move onto side walk. When Mr. Brown did not the police opened fire and killed him. Mr. Brown was unarmed and had his hands up in the air when police shoot him dead. The police officer was not a rookie, Darrin Wilson, did he have reason to kill this young man. This incident broke out a riot in Ferguson, Missouri causing national attention. The police used tear gas, rubber bullets and sound cannons to control protest. Officer Darin Wilson was not charged with murder after the shooting was investigated by local officials and a secretive grand jury. This case of Police Brutality has now caused an even wider gap between the Ferguson Government and the population, which is predominately African American. This case is one good example of racial discrimination and loss of life due to racial profiling. This officer did not know young Mr. Brown had intentions of furthering his education and making a positive impact in the