NOTE the title AP gives to this reporting of a vigil for a Black unarmed teen killed by cops. The classic racist perspective of "niggas gone wild" rather than the perspective of Black youth frustrated and fill with righteous anger.
Vandalism, looting after vigil for Missouri man
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — A day of anger over a fatal
police shooting of an unarmed black man in suburban St. Louis turned to
mayhem as people looted businesses, vandalized vehicles and confronted
police who sought to block off access to several areas of the city.
The tensions erupted after a candlelight vigil
Sunday night for 18-year-old Michael Brown, who police said was shot
multiple times the previous afternoon after a scuffle involving the
officer, Brown and another person in Ferguson, a predominantly black
suburb of the city.Afterward, a convenience store was looted. Several other stores along a main road near the shooting scene were broken into, including a check-cashing store, a boutique and a small grocery store. People also took items from a sporting goods store and a cellphone retailer, and carted rims away from a tire store.
TV footage showed streams of people walking out of a liquor store carrying bottles of alcohol, and in some cases protesters were standing atop police cars or taunting officers who stood stoic, often in riot gear. Video posted online by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch showed a convenience store on fire.
While St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said that there were no reports of injuries as of about 11 p.m., there also were scattered reports of assaults into the early morning. Pat Washington, a spokeswoman for Dooley, there was one instance she knew of in which tear gas was used. There were scattered media reports of gunfire but authorities did not immediately confirm any.
As the investigation of Brown's death progresses, "we understand people want to vent their frustrations. We understand they want to speak out," Knowles added. "We're going to obviously try to urge calm."
Earlier in the day, a few hundred protesters had gathered outside Ferguson Police headquarters. At one point, many of them marched into an adjacent police building, some chanting "Don't shoot me" while holding their hands in the air. Officers stood at the top of a staircase, but didn't use force; the crowd eventually left.
The struggle spilled out into the street, where Brown was shot multiple times. Belmar said the exact number of shots wasn't known, but "it was more than just a couple." He also said all shell casings found at the scene matched the officer's gun. Police are still investigating why the officer shot Brown, who police have confirmed was unarmed.
Jackson said the second person has not been arrested or charged. Authorities aren't sure if that person was unarmed, Jackson said. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told KSDK-TV there's no apparent video footage of the shooting from a nearby apartment complex, or from any police cruiser dashboard cameras or body-worn cameras that the department recently bought but hasn't yet put in use.
"I would like to see him go to jail with the death penalty," she said, fighting back tears. The killing drew criticism from some civil rights leaders, who referred to the 2012 racially charged shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a Florida neighborhood watch organizer who was acquitted of murder charges.
"We're outraged because yet again a young African-American man has been killed by law enforcement," said John Gaskin, who serves on both the St. Louis County and national boards of directors for the NAACP.
St. Louis County Police Department is in charge of the investigation, and Dooley said he will request an FBI investigation. The U.S. Justice Department said Attorney General Eric Holder had instructed staff to monitor developments.
The race of the officer involved in the shooting has not been disclosed. He has been placed on paid administrative leave.
1 comment:
Love this article and the title of the blog!
Post a Comment