>>Matt Lieberman: Welcome back to Sourcefed, I’m Matt Lieberman.
>>Joe Bereta: And I’m Joe Bereta.
M: Those of you who were unaware of the tragic ongoing situation in Ferguson, Missouri, were
likely surprised by a surge in discussion online last night under the #ferguson. Tensions
between citizens and the Ferguson police force have been building for days, leading to a
shocking standoff last night that has many decrying the police for excessive force in
the face of public protests.
J: The situation began with the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed african-american
teenager, who police say was shot several times this past Saturday in an altercation
with an officer. County Police Chief Jon Belmar said that the officer in question came upon
Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson outside of an apartment complex. Police claim that
Brown struggled with the officer, pushing him into his police car and trying to grab
his pistol. At least one shot was fired inside the car, at which point Brown ran from the
officer, who shot him from a distance of about 35 feet.
M: However, Dorian Johnson and a second witness, Tiffany Mitchell, tell a very different story.
Johnson says that the police officer approached them in his vehicle and told them to, quote,
“get the fuck onto the sidewalk.” He then tried to get out of his vehicle, but the door
hit Brown and bounced closed. At which point, the officer grabbed Brown through the window
and began to choke him.
J: Mitchell witnessed this from down the block, and says that the first shot rang out from
inside the car, at which point Brown turned and ran. The officer got out of his car and
began firing at Brown, hitting him once in the back. He turned and put his hands up before
being fatally shot multiple times and falling to the ground, dead. The officer’s name
has yet to be disclosed by police.
M: Now obviously in a situation such as this, racial tensions are high. However, it’s
important to remember that whether or not the shooting of Michael Brown was racially
motivated, an unarmed man was singled out and shot for seemingly doing nothing at all.
J: Peaceful protests gave way to riots Sunday night, leading to 32 arrests for assault,
burglary, and theft. Several businesses were damaged and looted. Deanel Trout, 53, a 14-year
resident of Ferguson, said that he was convinced that the troublemakers weren’t Ferguson
residents, but instead outsiders taking advantage of the unrest as an opportunity to steal.
St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley reported that there had not been any injuries
as of 11pm, but there were reports of assaults in the early morning, leading to the use of
tear gas by police.
M: This brings us to the events of last night, where tensions escalated to the point where
heavily-armed SWAT teams swept the streets of Ferguson to keep the peace. A large and
peaceful protest was disrupted by one individual who tried to light and throw a molotov cocktail,
at which point the police aggressively broke up the protest, using tear gas and smoke bombs
with stunning regularity, against protesters and members of the press. A team of journalists
from Al-Jazeera were assaulted with tear gas, and after they fled, the police broke down
their camera and sound equipment.
J: Two journalists, Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post, and Wesley Lowery of the Washington
Post, were arrested for reportedly not leaving the McDonalds they were working from quickly
enough. St. Louis Alderman Antonio French was also arrested while trying to record the
police actions inside of his vehicle. He was pulled from inside the car and when he asked
why he was being arrested, he was told it was because, quote, “You didn’t listen”.
All three men have since been released.
M: Online hacktivist group Anonymous threatened over the weekend to reveal the name of the
officer responsible for Michael Brown’s death. They released a name this morning,
though St. Louis County police have denied that it is in fact the correct officer.
J: In addition, the office of Missouri governor Jay Nixon reported that he will arrive in
Ferguson today. Congressman Lacy Clay told Bloomberg this morning that Nixon will announce
that the St Louis County police will be taken off of the Michael Brown case. It is not yet
clear who would replace them, and the St Louis County police have released a statement saying
that they are unaware of any plans to remove them from the case.
M: Finally, President Obama spoke live from Martha’s Vineyard early this afternoon about
the unrest, urging Americans to “take a step back and think about how we will be moving
forward.” He decried police brutality, saying that there’s “no excuse for police to
use excessive force against peaceful protests or to throw protesters in jail for lawfully
exercising their First Amendment rights.” He also announced that United States Attorney
General Eric Holder will be looking into this case personally. We will update this story
as it develops on sourcefed.com. Thank you for watching. I’m Matt Lieberman.
J: And I’m Joe Bereta.