Police in Ferguson, Missouri, shot and killed
18-year-old Michael Brown while he was going to his grandmother’s
house, according to his mother, producing an immediate angry
backlash from the community. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
reports:
[A witness] said she saw the teen, hands in the air, attempt to
flee [when police tried to put him in a squad car]. Several shots
hit Brown as he ran, Crenshaw said. She complied with a request
that she give photos of the scene to authorities…The shooting sparked a furious backlash.
Further shots were heard as police arrived immediately after the
shooting but no one was injured as angry residents screamed
obscenities mixed with threats to “kill the police.” More than 60
area police officers responded to the scene.Louis Head, Brown’s stepfather, held a sign that said: “Ferguson
police just executed my unarmed son!!!”Tension flared off and on through the evening. A calm settled
over the area after mourners gathered at a prayer circle — watched
over by a St. Louis County police officer sitting atop a SWAT
vehicle
Brown was scheduled to start college in the fall. Police had no
comment on what happened, saying only that they had referred the
shooting to county police and that they were “hoping for calm” as
the investigation was conducted, advice it seems is rarely heeded
by cops when one of their own is shot.
Watch video of cops trying to break up a spontaneous protest
after the shooting, via the Post-Dispatch,
here.
h/t Mark Sletten
from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1srswuk
via IFTTT