Philip Montgomery
Ferguson
Ferguson. August 2014. A man is held back by fellow demonstrators as he weeps in frustration during a standoff between state and local police at the intersection of West Florissant Avenue and Ferguson Avenue during intense demonstrations over the killing of Michael Brown. On August 9, 2014, the unarmed eighteen-year-old African-American teenager was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Missouri. A predominantly black suburb of St. Louis, the police department is 94 percent white. Witnesses to the shooting claim that Michael Brown’s hands were raised in submission when Officer Wilson opened fire, striking him six times, twice in the head. The body was left in the middle of the street for approximately four hours. Protests in response to the shooting and the treatment of Brown’s body began the next day and continued for months, often turning violent as demonstrators clashed with state and local police who were armed with armored vehicles, high-powered rifles, and tear gas. A local grand jury investigation was tasked to determine whether Officer Wilson committed homicide when he killed Michael Brown. On the evening of November 24, a St. Louis county grand jury decided not to indict Wilson for the killing. Within hours of the release of the non-indictment, grief-stricken residents and angry protesters filled the streets. Protests once again escalated to violent clashes with police and the widespread destruction and looting of property.
Harper's Magazine