A crowd quickly gathered at the site Many pulled out their phones to take photos and videos As time passed the crowd grew to hundreds of people Many became restless They wanted to know why Brown had been shot They wondered why his body remained on the ground hours later More police officers arrived Some came in armored vehicles Others led police dogs Many wore full riot gear After four and a half hours police finished their on-scene investigation They removed Brown’s body from the site There is no police standard for how long a body should remain on the ground after a shooting But many people in the crowd were angry that Brown’s body had remained in the open so long They felt it took away Brown’s dignity Brown’s mother approached the spot where the body had been The crowd followed Some laid flowers and candles on the ground The crowd prayed and sang together 6
Brown’s mother scattered rose petals on the spot where he was killed As night fell the crowds remained They raised their hands into the air Many shouted Hands up don’t shoot They believed these to be Brown’s last words though a later report said that Brown likely didn’t have his hands up when he was shot That night someone set a dumpster on fire 7
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REPORT After Michael Brown’s death the US Justice Department investigated the Ferguson Police Department It found that Ferguson’s mostly white police officers purposely discriminated against black residents Ferguson officers targeted black people for minor violations Those who failed to pay even small fines often faced arrest Officers illegally searched black people In some cases they released police dogs on unarmed children The findings led Ferguson police chief Thomas Jackson to quit GOING VIRAL The next day many people in the crowd posted updates to Facebook and Twitter Videos showed Brown’s parents grieving for their son Photos of police in riot gear hit the Internet in real time Soon local TV crews arrived as well Thousands of people began protesting in Ferguson’s streets As day became night peaceful protests turned violent Rioters broke car windows smashed storefronts and burned down a gas station Police responded by releasing tear gas They 8
shot rubber bullets into the crowd They hit both peaceful and violent protesters This continued throughout the week Some rioters threw rocks and bricks at officers The officers responded with tear gas and pepper spray They arrested more than 150 people Most of the arrests were for refusing to leave the protests Stories of the chaos hit social media National media outlets also covered PERSPECTIVES YOUNG ACTIVIST Black high school student Clifton Kinnie lived only minutes from Ferguson He saw an Instagram post about the riots there He had to see them for himself During a peaceful protest Kinnie was tear gassed by police He was angry when a teacher later complained about the protesters The teacher said nothing about the police response Kinnie took action He formed Our Destiny STL to involve young people in activism Our Destiny STL organized marches The group also held voter registration drives In 2016 Kinnie received the Ambassador Andrew Young Distinguished Leader Award for his activism Young was a leader in the civil rights movement 9
