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Unrest in St. Louis Missouri suburb after police kills Michael Brown – an unarmed African American teen
Michael Brown. PHOTO/Facebook
A candlelight vigil for Michael Brown, an 18-year-old unarmed African American teen who was fatally shot by a suburban St. Louis police officer was followed by unrest as angry crowds taunted officers who tried to block access to parts of the city.
The investigation into what led to the shooting was ongoing, but Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told reporters on Monday that the FBI was taking over the case.
According to St. Louis County Chief Jon Belmar, an officer encountered Brown and another man outside an apartment complex in Ferguson. One of the men pushed the officer into his squad car and they struggled. Belmar said at least one shot was fired from the officer’s gun inside the police car. Authorities were still sorting out what happened inside the police car. It was not clear if Brown fought with the officer.
The struggle spilled out into the street, where Brown was shot multiple times. Police were investigating why the officer shot Brown, who police have confirmed was unarmed.
There is no video footage of the shooting from the apartment complex, or from any police cruiser dashboard cameras or body-worn cameras that the department recently bought but has not yet put to use to verify the police version of events.
Earlier Sunday, a few hundred protesters gathered outside Ferguson Police headquarters. Some marched into an adjacent police building chanting “Don’t shoot me” while holding their hands in the air.
Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, said she did not understand why police did not subdue her high school graduate son with a club or stun gun, and that the officer involved should be fired and prosecuted.
“I would like to see him go to jail with the death penalty,” she said, fighting back tears.
The killing drew criticism from some civil rights leaders, who referred to the 2012 racially charged shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a Florida neighborhood watch organizer who was acquitted of murder charges.
“We are outraged because yet again a young African American man has been killed by law enforcement,” said John Gaskin, who serves on both the St. Louis County and national boards of directors for the NAACP.
Ferguson’s population of about 21,000 people is almost 70 percent African American. The race of the officer has not been disclosed. He has been placed on paid administrative leave.
Source: Associated Press