On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an 18 year old African-American teen was shot and killed after robbing a convenience store in Ferguson, Missouri by a caucasian police officer by the name of Darren Wilson. After a three month long deliberation by a grand jury, the verdict was announced on November 24th that Officer Wilson would not be indicted for the killing of Michael Brown.
Michael Brown’s biological father, mother and stepfather released a statement to CNN prior to the verdict being released, “We respectfully ask that you please keep your protests peaceful. Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction.”
Peaceful protests were organized for the day of the verdict, but quickly became violent in Ferguson after Brown’s stepfather, Louis Head, was videotaped inciting the crowd to burn the city down. In the 24 hours that followed, over 12 businesses in Ferguson were burned, some of them belonging to African-American business owners. Over 61 people were arrested in the first 24 hours for a variety of crimes associated with the riots.
These riots gave anarchists or agitators the opportunity to loot, destroy property and cause general havoc across the country. In Ferguson alone, millions of dollars in damage was caused by these criminals.
The riots that occurred after the verdict went against everything that the protests were supposed to accomplish. Members of the Ferguson community who were not involved in the case remotely lost everything because of the criminal activities of these protesters.
In an interview, Robert Chabot, a business owner in Ferguson, stated,
“I was seeing men throw chairs and other objects through the windows of my fellow business owners. I could see tear gas being launched,” he said. “It was heartbreaking.”
The most logical point of protest should have been in response to the alleged use of force by Officer Wilson to Michael Brown, but it was unclear what the actual message was that the protesters were trying to get across since the rally cry of the movement has been “Hands up, don’t shoot.” The evidence from the grand jury has shown that Brown did not have his hands up in surrender at any point during the encounter with Officer Wilson.
Some people believe that Michael Brown was considered unarmed and in their opinion they believed Officer Wilson used excessive force. According to law enforcement, once Brown attempted to remove Officer Wilson’s gun, he is no longer unarmed and the deadly force was justified.
The riots as a result of the Ferguson decision have shown that there are people in this country who are willing to take advantage of a tragic scenario and twist the facts to promote themselves. As a society, we have to focus on what is right and wrong instead of sensationalizing factors like race.