Michael Brown Shooting by Sam Pronovost

The Situation

sjpronovost — 2014-09-04 11:48:42 UTC

Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson responded to a robbery call from a convenience store. The assailant, unarmed black teen Michael Brown was gunned down by the officer. This death has sparked protests and movements everywhere. People want change so that there can be more rights for black Americans, taking the conflict as a symbol for racial injustice. (SP)

Important Background

benruffing — 2014-09-04 12:01:07 UTC

The demographics of Ferguson MO has changed greatly in the past 2 decades. In the 1990 census white citizens made up about 75% while the black population was only about 25%. Ten years later blacks were slightly over half the population and in the recent 2010 census, white citizens were only about 33% of the population. This recent racial disparity may have led up to the events on August 9th. (BR)

Why Should We Care

bobbypaltauf — 2014-09-04 12:01:17 UTC

We should care because what happened to Michael Brown was a horrible thing, and he should never have been shot over a robbery of a convenience store. The cop shooting Michael brown was thought of to many as racist especially in St. Louis which was predominantly a black city. Although there are many other sides to the story, the strongest and most believed story is that Michael Brown was shot by the cop as he was fleeing the scene and was putting up his hands after the first shot. Darren Wilson did not need to kill Michael Brown. (BP, TR, SP)

Darren Wilson vs Michael Brown

sjpronovost — 2014-09-04 12:05:48 UTC

The white cop in Ferguson got a call for a robbery on a convenience store and was immediately on the scene. Eyewitnesses report Michael Brown, the 18 year old who had robbed the store was running from the area. Darren Wilson shot once and reports say that Michael Brown had stopped and turned around. At this point he was gunned down with multiple more bullets and was killed on the scene.

Since the conflict, there have been different standpoints on the situation. People have taken Wilson's side and others have supported the cause for black rights and Michael Brown's justice. The argument for Darren Wilson includes the idea that he was doing his job and cops should be immunized from work-related crimes like this. Also, they believe he was being threatened by Brown. The argument for Michael Brown is the belief that this proves the true demographics and inequality of black and white populations. They beleive that this ordeal shows that they haven't reached the social equality they had hoped for. (SP)

bobbypaltauf — 2014-09-05 11:32:50 UTC

sjpronovost — 2014-09-05 11:38:45 UTC

What INFO Should You Trust

bobbypaltauf — 2014-09-05 11:39:22 UTC

More black people say that the Michael Brown incident was a racial issue more than white people according to PEW Research Center. This symbolizes the racial diversity during this situation due to the information from media. Untrustworthy media includes CNN. It had too many variations of eyewitness accounts that made the count of events that you couldn't make out what really happened. We can trust USA Today, Fox, etc. because they are extremely large news companies and state only one story and not a bunch like CNN. (BP, SP)

The Protests

benruffing — 2014-09-05 11:44:30 UTC

The recent shooting has sparked many protests that have lasted over two weeks. It has attracted various black groups to protest, one being "Lawyers for Black Justice," and even some groups in black communities including Bridgeport. The protests started peacefully, but have turned violent very quickly. The military has been called in multiple times to suppress the riots. Ten people have been injured and about 70 have been arrested. (BR)