Unarmed Michael Brown Shot and Killed by Ferguson, Missouri, Police Officer – Nationwide Protests Follow
Michael Brown, an unarmed African-America, was shot and killed on this day by Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson. Massive protests over the shooting erupted in Ferguson, supported by sympathy protests across the country. Additional protests broke out when the local grand jury acquitted Wilson of murder charges.
The Ferguson-related protests were followed by other protests around the country related to the deaths of African-Americans on Long Island, New York; Cleveland, Baltimore and other cities. The size and duration of those protests were dwarfed by the protests that followed the death of George Floyd at the hands on the Minneapolis police of May 25, 2020.
The fatal shooting of Michael Brown brought on a federal investigation of the Ferguson police department by the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. Its report, issued on March 4, 2015, found City of Ferguson used the police department to generate funds to support the city government, primarily through traffic tickets and fines for failure to appear in court. The law authorizing Justice Department investigations of local police departments for violations of civil rights was passed on September 13, 1994.
A report by the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division, released on the same day, did not find cause to indict officer Wilson on criminal charges for shooting Mr. Brown.
In response to the shooting of Michael Brown, and the protests and disorders that followed, President Barack Obama established the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The Task Force issued its Final Report in the spring of 2015, which included strong recommendations related to de-escalation, procedural justice, and the importance of police departments achieving legitimacy in the eyes of the public.
Don’t miss: Wesley Lowery, “They Can’t Kill Us All:” Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement (2016)
Read the definitive new book on police shootings: Franklin Zimring, When Police Kill (2017)
Read: Samuel Walker and Carol Archbold, The New World of Police Accountability, 3rd ed. (2020)
Read the President’s Task Force Final Report
Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture here