The Ferguson unrest (sometimes called the Ferguson uprising, Ferguson protests, or the Ferguson riots) was a series of protests and riots which began in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by FPD officer Darren Wilson. The unrest sparked a vigorous debate in the United States about the relationship between law enforcement officers and Black Americans, the militarization of police, and the use-of-force law in Missouri and nationwide. Continuing activism expanded the issues by including modern-day debtors prisons, for-profit policing, and school segregation.
As the details of the shooting emerged, police established curfews and deployed riot squads in anticipation of unrest. Along with peaceful protests, there was a significant amount of looting and violence in the vicinity of the site of the shooting, as well as across the city. Media criticism of the militarization of the police in Ferguson after the shooting was frequent. The unrest continued on November 24, 2014, after a grand jury did not indict Officer Wilson. It briefly flared again on the first anniversary of Brown's shooting. The Department of Justice (DOJ) concluded that Wilson shot Brown in self-defense.
In response to the shooting and the subsequent unrest, the DOJ conducted an investigation into the policing practices of the Ferguson Police Department (FPD). In March 2015, the DOJ announced that they had determined that the FPD had engaged in misconduct against the citizenry of Ferguson by, among other things, discriminating against African Americans and applying racial stereotypes in a "pattern or practice of unlawful conduct". The DOJ also found that the Ferguson city council relied on fines and other charges generated by police for funding municipal services.
Background
Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African-American male, was shot and killed during an encounter with Officer Darren Wilson. Officer Wilson arrived after a robbery and assault was reported at a nearby convenience store. The caller described the accused (later identified as Michael Brown from security cameras). Officer Wilson's account was that after seeing Brown and Brown's friend Dorian Johnson walking home in the middle of the street he asked them to walk on the sidewalk instead. When they refused Wilson noticed that Brown's shirt and a box of cigarillos he was holding matched the description from the robbery call, and suspected Brown and Johnson as being involved. When he attempted to question Michael Brown, he was attacked. There was a struggle, Brown attempting and almost succeeding in gaining possession of Officer Wilson's weapon. Due to the struggle, the weapon discharged, slightly wounding Brown, who then fled. Wilson gave brief chase firing upon Brown, ultimately shooting and killing Brown when Brown turned to confront him and, upon Wilson's account, charged at him. The officer was a 28-year-old white male Ferguson police officer. After several months of deliberation, a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Wilson for any criminal charges in relation to the incident.
The police response to the shooting was heavily criticized, as was the slow rate of information making its way out to the public. Many of the documents received and reviewed by the Grand Jury were released when the grand jury declined to indict Officer Wilson.
Events
August 2014
On August 9, the evening of the shooting, residents had created a makeshift memorial of flowers and candles in the spot where Brown died. According to Mother Jones, an unidentified police officer allowed a police dog to urinate on the memorial and police vehicles later crushed the memorial. Mother Jones reported that these incidents inflamed tensions among bystanders, according to Missourian state representative Sharon Pace, who told the reporters for the magazine, "That made people in the crowd mad and it made me mad."
On August 10, a day of memorials began peacefully, but some people 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 officers who sought to block off access to several areas of the city. At least 12 businesses were looted or vandalized and a QuikTrip convenience store and gas station was set on fire, as well as a Little Caesars. The Quiktrip looting was captured on video by activist Umar Lee 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.
On August 11, police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd at the burnt shell of the QuikTrip convenience store, set on fire by looters the night before. According to reports, gunshots were fired in Ferguson and five people were arrested. Some protesters threw rocks at police officers. The police responded by firing tear gas and bean bag rounds at protesters which included Missouri Senate member Maria Chappelle-Nadal.
On August 12, several hundred protesters gathered in Clayton, the county seat, seeking criminal prosecution of the officer involved in the shooting. Protesters in Ferguson carried signs and many held their hands in the air while shouting "don't shoot," apparently in response to later discredited eye-witness accounts that Brown had his hands raised in an attempt to surrender at the moment he was shot. According to police, some protesters threw bottles at the officers, prompting the use of tear gas to disperse the crowd. The following day, a SWAT team of around 70 officers arrived at a protest demanding that protesters disperse. That night, police used smoke bombs, flash grenades, rubber bullets, and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Video footage of the events recorded by KARG Argus Radio shows Ferguson Police firing tear gas into a residential neighborhood and ordering the journalist to cease recording.
Between August 12 and 13, police officers at times fired tear gas and rubber bullets at lines of protesters and reporters. At least seven protesters were arrested on the evening of August 12 and 13 after police told protesters to "go home" or face arrest. CNN cameras filmed an officer addressing a group of protesters by saying "Bring it, you fucking animals, bring it." On the night of August 12, a peaceful protester was shot in the head non-fatally by an unknown assailant. The gunshot survivor, Mya Aaten-White, complained that police had failed to interview her in connection with the shooting. Police had attempted to interview Aaten-White alone, but she refused to speak with them without an attorney present. A month after the shooting, Aaten-White's attorney indicated that he had subsequently contacted police to set up an appointment for an interview, without response. City officials refused to provide reporters with ballistics reports or other investigative records, citing state law regarding ongoing police investigations.
As night fell on August 13, protesters threw projectiles at police including Molotov cocktails, and police launched tear gas and smoke bombs in retaliation. While police were clearing a McDonald's restaurant, The Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery and The Huffington Post reporter Ryan J. Reilly were arrested. Officers reportedly asked them to leave first, gave them a 45-second countdown when they were not moving fast enough, and ultimately resorted to more forceful measures to remove people from the McDonald's. "Officers slammed me into a fountain soda machine because I was confused about which door they were asking me to walk out of," Lowery said. Martin Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post, issued a statement, saying "there was absolutely no justification for Wesley Lowery's arrest," and that the police behavior "was wholly unwarranted and an assault on the freedom of the press to cover the news."
Al Jazeera America journalists including correspondent Ash-har Quraishi covering the protests in Ferguson on Wednesday night were also tear-gassed and shot at with rubber bullets by a police SWAT team. An officer was captured on video turning the reporters' video camera toward the ground and dismantling their equipment. Al Jazeera America issued a statement, calling the incident an "egregious assault on the freedom of the press that was clearly intended to have a chilling effect on our ability to cover this important story." On Thursday, August 14, the St. Charles County Regional SWAT Team put out a press release stating that "... the SWAT Team has not been any part of attempting to prevent media coverage" and that the SWAT team had helped journalists move their equipment at their request. A raw video captured a vehicle marked clearly as "St. Charles County SWAT" rolling up to the Al Jazeera lights and camera and taking them down.
Tom Jackson, the Ferguson police chief denied any suppression of the media. U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the First Amendment violations, saying, "There's also no excuse for police to use excessive force against peaceful protests, or to throw protesters in jail for lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights. And here, in the United States of America, police should not be bullying or arresting journalists who are just trying to do their jobs and report to the American people on what they see on the ground."
St. Louis alderman Antonio French, who was documenting the protests for social media, was also arrested by police in Ferguson on Wednesday night. French said that he went into his car to escape tear gas and smoke bombs being thrown by police. While he was in his car, police approached him, dragging him out of the car. French was arrested for unlawful assembly. Speaking to reporters after his release from jail on Thursday, French described the dozen or so other people arrested as "peacekeepers" including "reverends, young people organizing the peace effort." No charges were ultimately brought against French.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), a large coalition of media and press freedom groups, wrote to police forces in Ferguson, Missouri, to protest the harassment of journalists covering the protests.
On August 14, United States Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) stated that "militarization of the police escalated the protesters' response." St. Louis Chief of Police Sam Dotson stated he would not have employed military-style policing such as that which transpired. According to Chief Dotson, "My gut told me what I was seeing were not tactics that I would use in the city and I would never put officers in situations that I would not do myself." Another reason Dotson did not want the city and county police to collaborate was because of the history of racial profiling by police in that county. In an email to a St. Louis Alderman who brought up concerns of racial profiling, he wrote: "I agree and removed our tactical assistance. We did not send tactical resources to Ferguson on Tuesday or Wednesday. Our only assistance was that of four traffic officers to help divert traffic and keep both pedestrians and motorists safe. On Thursday we will have no officers assisting Ferguson."
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said at a press conference that the Missouri State Highway Patrol would take over policing Ferguson from the St. Louis County police, whose tactics were widely criticized, referring to the change as "an operational shift," and that police will use force "only when necessary," and will generally "step back a little bit." Nixon said that Ferguson security would be overseen by Captain Ron Johnson of the Highway Patrol. Johnson, an African-American, said he grew up in the community and "it means a lot to me personally that we break this cycle of violence." Nixon said, "The people of Ferguson want their streets to be free of intimidation and fear" he said, but during the past few days, "it looked a little bit more like a war zone and that's not acceptable." St. Louis county prosecutor Robert P. McCulloch criticized the governor's decision, saying "It's shameful what he did today; he had no legal authority to do that. To denigrate the men and women of the county police department is shameful."
In the evening hours of August 14, Captain Johnson walked with and led a large, peaceful march in Ferguson.
Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson announced the name of the officer involved in the shooting in a news conference the morning of Friday, August 15, nearly a week after the officer shot Brown on Saturday afternoon. Jackson prefaced the name announcement by describing a "strong-arm" robbery that had occurred a few minutes before the shooting at a nearby convenience store called Ferguson Market & Liquor. A police report released to members of the media at the news conference described Brown as the suspect involved in the robbery. Hours later, Jackson held another news conference in which he said Wilson wasn't aware of the robbery when he stopped Brown.
On Friday night, protests continued in "an almost celebratory manner" near the QuikTrip until police arrived at around 11:00 p.m. At around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning, rioters broke into and looted the Ferguson Market & Liquor store that Brown allegedly robbed prior to his shooting, as well as other nearby businesses; after the initial break-in, a group of protesters and observers gathered near the storefronts of the looted businesses in an attempt to prevent further looting.