Riots Follow Police Shooting of Teen in St. Louis Suburb

William A. Hudson

The predominantly African-American St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri, is on edge after a policeman shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown after an apparent struggle on Saturday, August 9. The officer has not yet been publicly identified, though the department says he has been put on “paid administrative leave.” St. Louis County police chief John Belmar claims Brown ran at the officer while he was in his squad car and tried to take the officer’s weapon. Brown’s grandmother found his body less than two blocks away from her house immediately after the altercation. Both the police and witnesses say that Brown was unarmed at the time of the shooting.  In response to Brown’s killing, residents of Ferguson rioted and looted after a peaceful candlelight vigil on Sunday, with widespread property damage and theft reported. Police have said that the FBI will now head the investigation into the shooting. Al-Jazeera America reported on the riots, describing the public’s frustration with the police: The shooting sent hundreds of angry residents out of their apartments, igniting protests and a confrontation that lasted several hours. On Saturday night dozens of police cars remained parked near the shooting scene as mourners left votive candles, rose petals, a large stuffed animal and other remembrances at a makeshift memorial in the middle of the street. At the height of the post-shooting tensions, police at the scene called for about 60 other police units to respond to the area in Ferguson, a city of about 21,000 residents.

Please consider supporting our work.

I hope you found this article important. Before you leave, I want to ask you to consider supporting our work with a donation. In These Times needs readers like you to help sustain our mission. We don’t depend on—or want—corporate advertising or deep-pocketed billionaires to fund our journalism. We’re supported by you, the reader, so we can focus on covering the issues that matter most to the progressive movement without fear or compromise.

Our work isn’t hidden behind a paywall because of people like you who support our journalism. We want to keep it that way. If you value the work we do and the movements we cover, please consider donating to In These Times.

William A. Hudson is a summer 2014 In These Times intern.
Illustrated cover of Gaza issue. Illustration shows an illustrated representation of Gaza, sohwing crowded buildings surrounded by a wall on three sides. Above the buildings is the sun, with light shining down. Above the sun is a white bird. Text below the city says: All Eyes on Gaza
Get 10 issues for $19.95

Subscribe to the print magazine.