Ferguson Missouri Events in August 2015

After one year, 9th August 2015 was the anniversary of Mike Brown's death. A group of protesters gathered on the streets and blocked the way. Police were trying to restore order among the protests. Michael Brown an African-American male was killed at the age of 18 years by a white officer Darren Wilson. Officer Darren Wilson was called after a robbery case was reported at a nearby store and the officer got information that Michael Brown was involved. Officer Dareen tried to question Michael but he was attacked, they struggled, and Michael was almost taking his weapons. While still struggling, the weapon was discharged, and Michael got slightly wounded in the process, and later he fled. Officer Darren chased him while firing and later Michael was shot and killed (Gonzales, 2015). After the incidence, Brown's body was left isolated for around four hours, in the middle of the suburban street. It took long before the ambulance came and this attracted the residents to the area who were in disbelief. That marked the beginning of the Ferguson unrest. After the event, the response that the police gave about the killing was highly criticized because the information released to the public was being done at a slow rate. Many months after the Michael Brown's death, a grand jury came into a conclusion that Officer Daren will not be charged in relation to the incident that occurred (Shaw, 2015). The killing of Michael Brown led to the international attention and conversation about the justice and race, which brought about the Black lives matter movement.

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The events that happened on the first anniversary included four and half moment of silence that was used to reference the four and half hours that Michael Brown's body stayed at the scene after being shot by Officer Darren Wilson, without being taken by the ambulance. The protesters also planned to march from the place where Michael Brown was killed up to the Ferguson Church to honor the memory of the boy. Later on the night of the anniversary, the peaceful demonstrations turned out badly. Two groups of suspected looters started to fire at each other during the event of demonstration. The police officers who were in plain clothes responded to what happened in the scene in an unmarked supports utility vehicle. During that unrest, the police officers shot one man who had opened fire on the police using the 9mm SIG Sauer handgun. The man was later hospitalized after the events in a critical and unstable condition. Two teenagers were later injured three hours after the shooting when they were passing close to the memorial that was set for Michael Brown (Rogers, 2015). During that session, a journalist's particulars were stolen after being attacked around a parking place, and the demonstrators severely wounded few police officers. The protesters ended up throwing some bottles to the police who were disrupting them during the demonstration. St.Louis County Police elaborated that the protesters threw frozen water bottles to the officers an act that made the police to react and decided that the demonstration was not any more peaceful and the people involved in the protest are illegally assembled. This situation lead to the declaration of a state of emergency which stated that the violence that the protesters had started spoilt the demonstrations when marking the first anniversary of Michael Brown's death. The Executive at St.Louis County said that the violence that the protesters used was not to be allowed by the police and the community that had been working hard to restore and build.

On 10th August 2015, around two hundred more protesters marched up to Thomas Eagleton United States Courthouse from Christ Church Cathedral. Those demonstrators had banners while marching, they prayed and chanted as well as requested that the Justice Department act on racism. Protesters also hung a banner at the Old Courthouse that was written: "Racism still lives here." The security officers arrested fifty-six people who were involved in the demonstration at Courthouse (Bartram, 2015). During the same day, other individuals involved in the demonstration disrupted a section of interstate seventy and every town in Missouri. Most of the protesters had signs that were yellow in color that said that "Ferguson is everywhere." The event was marked by protesters who held each other hands and formed a line across the road. After few minutes, officers dispersed the crowd to clear the way, and they arrested some of them in a nearby parking lot. The angry protesters were not willing to leave the streets because they wanted to be heard and justice to prevail. The killing of Michael Brown who was an Eighteen-year-old and an African American by white police officer Darren was viewed as racism and the other blacks who attended his anniversary committed themselves to hold demonstrations so that Justice can be considered. The violence that some of the protesters caused by throwing water bottles and gunfire the police could not allow the protests to continue.

Systematic racism can be clearly seen in the killing of Michael Brown and the way police treated the protesters during the first anniversary in August 2015. The sociology aspect of Ferguson Missouri events shows inequality, the militarization of the police and worse enough the interaction of the police and protesters. The demonstration held on 9th August 2015 was meant to be peaceful because the protesters wanted justice to prevail. Most of the times police have been blamed for using force in the African American a situation that has been viewed as racism. The protesters at Ferguson Missouri main aim was to seek justice after losing one of them at the police hands. The way the police used force during the protesters too was not fair because every citizen has the right to protest. 63% of the population at Ferguson is made up Blacks and 90% of the police officers in that area is white (Bartram, 2015). The relationship between the police and the community during the protests was not good as there was chaos between the police and the demonstrators. The response of the police towards the demonstration show the results of the militarization of police forces. Sociologically, the weak community at Ferguson Missouri felt the need of fighting racism in the community after Officer Darren had killed Michael Brown. The protester's response during the first anniversary of Michael Brown is generated by local and national racial profiling by the police officers in the area, and the demonstrators felt that they lacked representation among the police officers. The banner that the protesters used were written that "Racism still lives here," reveals that the main aim of the demonstration was not to fight the police but air their grievances about racism after the killing of Michael Brown (Rogers, 2015).

The demonstration to mark the first anniversary after the killing of Michael Brown also involved the Black Lives Movement hence calling for support to change the Criminal Justice System and need to have a consideration of human rights in Ferguson. The Ferguson Missouri arrests and also the shooting of African-Americans by the white police, in social perspective, brings the question of the police and practicing racism in the justice system. The residents of Ferguson Missouri involved in the demonstration brings the concern of officer safety and response to peaceful demonstrations. The protesters too were very concerned and criticized the Ferguson police department actions as well as the areas profit interested court system because they cleared Officer Wilson and said that he would not be charged for the incident of killing Michael Brown and he later resigned (Gonzales, 2015).

The demonstrators had also planned a day of civil disobedience which the activists motivated people to demonstrate the shooting of Michael and many Black Americans that have been murdered by white officers in the country. The clergy and the civil rights groups organized and led the people in the streets to seek justice and shouting "This is what democracy looks like, and Black lives matter" (Shaw, 2015). The unity that the protesters showed when they broke the barricades at the courthouse in St. Louis indicates that the protesters were ready to face the police officers but get justice and end the killing of black people by the white police officers in Ferguson. The grand jury's choice not to charge the officer who killed Michael was very hurting to the African American, and they vowed to demonstrate until they get justice. The incidence of Michael Brown's death led to the scrutiny of racial bias in the region, and that is the reason why many activists were ready to participate in the demonstrations. The armed police made the demonstrators tense, but they were very determined to have their voice heard by the Ferguson Justice Department that seemed to be full of racial bias and harming the African-Americans in Ferguson.

The peaceful demonstrations that had begun positively turned to be chaos when the police in riot gear fired gunshots at the protesters trying to disperse them. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon viewed the demonstration as a turn of events because the demonstrators were blocking the traffic as well as smashing storefront windows as they were protesting in the streets. The events caused by the protesters was a flashpoint of the events that happened in the city after Michael Brown had been killed. The officers deployed in the rally were requested to disperse the demonstrators as the events may turn out badly and destroy property in the city. The police department in Ferguson had a reason to control the events because the law allows the police to do everything that is necessary to maintain order. The misbehavior of some of the protesters in the first anniversary of Michael Brown made the police officers take the necessary action to maintain order in the city and avoid damage to other people's property as a result demonstrations (Gonzales, 2015). The county orders also allow the police department to distribute materials that are needed for emergency response and that was the case because the police were properly armed when they responded to the events.

The police tactics used by the police during the demonstration were viewed as provocative in that they inflamed tension among the peaceful demonstrators. The police response also shows inconsistent leadership and failure to understand the voice of the community. The police officers showed a confusion state on the arresting procedures and the guidelines on how to handle case. The appearance of the police with the armored vehicles was viewed as acts of aggression by the demonstrators. On the side of the community, they did not have any prior history on how to base the actions that led to the killing of Michael Brown and so they had to go to the streets and seek justice, so as to stop the killing of black people by the white police. During the unrest, some of the municipalities had officers who were not even certified, and many of them may not have knowledge on how to handle that kind of demonstration. During the event, the police officer had no plan in place to arrest the people involved, and there was no standard way that documented the unrest. When the police thought that the demonstration was turning out not to be peaceful, some of the police officers were not sure who to arrest or not, like the case of the West Florissant Avenue where the demonstrators in the parking lot were arrested (Rogers, 2015).

The declaration of state of emergency happened when the officers critically wounded the 18-year-old individual who released gunfire and turned the peaceful demonstration to have chaos. The response of the police and shooting the man caused tension among the protesters who initially had planned a peaceful demon...