The Case The Michael Brown Shooting
Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed by a white Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, Darren Wilson, on August 9, 2014. (See also “the Ferguson effect,” the opening story in Chapter 6 Lig). Just before noon that day, Brown and a friend, Dorian Johnson, left a nearby convenience store. Surveillance video showed Brown stealing some cigarillos. Minutes later, Officer Wilson pulled his cruiser alongside the two young men. Upon noticing that Brown fit the description of the suspect in the convenience store theft, he asked Brown and Johnson to move to the sidewalk.
An altercation ensued, then two shots were fired from inside the vehicle. Officer Wilson claimed that the shots were fired when he and Brown struggled over his service weapon. One bullet grazed Brown’s thumb. Brown then ran east and Wilson gave chase. Brown stopped, turned around, and reportedly moved toward Wilson. Officer Wilson then shot Brown several times, fatally wounding him.
As with many police-citizen altercations where force is used, the details surrounding the Michael Brown shooting are cloudy. Some witnesses reported seeing Brown reach through Wilson’s car window and punch him. Others said Brown never laid a hand on Wilson.
Likewise, some witnesses reported that Brown never moved toward Wilson before he was shot. Others said he did. Officer Wilson testified that Brown charged at him. In the end, a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson. The announcement set off a wave of street protests, and rioting ensued. Since then, all police shootings, especially of minority suspects by white officers, have received intense criticism and scrutiny.
The Case of Michael Brown raises some interesting questions:
1. The officer involved in the Michael Brown shooting was not indicted by the grand jury that heard the case. Why?
2. Do you think that the officer who shot Brown had other options available to him? What would they have been?
3. If other options were available, why didn’t he use them?
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