Essential Coverage Of The Events In Ferguson As Protests Continue
When, last Thursday, photographs of a protest march with police escort and newly instated Captain Ron Johnson hugging a protester came out of Ferguson, Missouri, it felt as if the worst of the tension between the police and the community had passed and the militarized police equipment had been put away for good. But as quickly as the discord faded that night, it has returned and now reaches into the tenth day after unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. Here’s a roundup of more key stories from the situation which continues to unfold:
- Missouri Governor Declares State Of Emergency In Ferguson, Sets Curfew. Protests turned ugly late Friday night, with demonstrators trying to block looters from breaking into local businesses.
- Autopsy Shows Michael Brown Was Struck at Least 6 Times. The autopsy, conducted by Dr. Michael M. Baden, the former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, at the request of Michael Brown’s family, found that he was shot two times in the head and four times in the right arm.
- This Is The Most Important Reform Ferguson Can Enact To Give Its Black Residents A Voice. Through a rescheduling measure, Ferguson could permanently reshape its electoral landscape so that its leaders are chosen by an electorate that more closely resembles Ferguson as a whole — rather than allowing them to be chosen by a tiny, overwhelmingly white group of voters.
- Missouri Governor: Police Released Video Of Robbery To Attack Michael Brown’s Character. Gov. Jay Nixon (D-MO) said Ferguson police did not tell him they were releasing the video of a robbery they suspect Mike Brown committed before he was killed by an officer.
- How We’d Cover Ferguson If It Happened In Another Country. The crisis began a week ago in Ferguson, a remote Missouri village that has been a hotbed of sectarian tension. State security forces shot and killed an unarmed man, which regional analysts say has angered the local population by surfacing deep-seated sectarian grievances. Regime security forces cracked down brutally on largely peaceful protests, worsening the crisis.
- Fox Panel Defends Ferguson Police: ‘The Response Last Night Is What Needs To Happen’. “They’re coming back, they’re coming back these extremist Muslims are coming back and they’re going to do something in the United States and you can’t fight them with pea shooters,” he said.
- What The Police’s ‘Non Lethal Weapons’ Can Do To Human Bodies. There’s increasing evidence that crowd control tactics can actually inflict serious pain.
- Cops in Ferguson Threaten to Shoot Reporter, Mace Chris Hayes. Police in Ferguson were caught on camera Sunday night threatening to mace one reporter and shoot another. At least two other journalists also claim they were arrested while following police orders.
- Congress Will Review The Transfer Of Military Weapons To Police Forces After Ferguson. The top defense lawmaker in the Senate is calling for a rethinking of the policy giving billions of dollars worth of military gear to local police departments.
- Iraq or Missouri? Images of the military-style crackdown in Ferguson.
BOTTOM LINE: “Let us seek to heal, rather than to wound each other,” said President Obama in a press conference this afternoon addressing the crisis in Ferguson. As the escalating tensions in the Missouri suburb reveal deep mistrust, anger, and division, more than ever we need unity and reconciliation on the part of law enforcement and those they have sworn to serve and protect.
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