Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, was fatally shot by white police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. It is still unclear, according to witnesses, whether Brown was moving towards Wilson or had his hands in the air in surrender when he was shot. The shooting was followed by violent protests from the public in Ferguson, in which the gas station next to where the shooting occurred was looted.
On Friday, August 29th, the Center at Lick held a discussion about the case and the public reactions to it. Many concerns, opinions, and ideas were sparked about not only the shooting of Michael Brown but that of Trayvon Martin and other victims. According to USA Today (http://usat.ly/1wb3aQr), two black people were killed by a white police officer each week during a seven year period ending in 2012. Ferguson is made up of 67% African-Americans, with 50 white and 3 black police officers.
We want to hear your thoughts (comments will not be posted until approved by the PT Online staff).
What is the next step for the US in dealing with the repercussions of the Ferguson case? What do you think will happen? What do you think should happen?
Why is it important to discuss events such as these in the LWHS community?
Read more:
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/08/us/ferguson-brown-timeline/index.html
http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/08/beyondferguson.html
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/14/police-killings-data/14060357/
Comment your thoughts below!
