Free Republic

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) -- The word spread within minutes of Michael Brown's death - a young black man with his hands raised in surrender had just been shot by a white cop. Soon, "Hands Up. Don't Shoot!" became a rallying cry for protesters in the streets of this St. Louis suburb and a symbol nationwide of racial inequality for those who believe that minorities are too often the targets of overzealous police. Yet the witness accounts contained in thousands of pages of grand jury documents reviewed by The Associated Press show many variations about whether Brown's hands were actually raised...

Mike Brown.’s Instagram account was located. Brown describes himself: “My Hands My Ammunition” “I’m out here to claim what’s mines” And he did. Brown was caught on camera robbing a local convenience store before his death.

WASHINGTON — With their Senate majority imperiled, Democrats are trying to mobilize African-Americans outraged by the shooting in Ferguson, Mo., to help them retain control of at least one chamber of Congress for President Obama’s final two years in office. In black churches and on black talk radio, African-American civic leaders have begun invoking the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, along with conservative calls to impeach Mr. Obama, as they urge black voters to channel their anger by voting Democratic in the midterm elections, in which minority turnout is typically lower.

Views of the police reaction to protests in Ferguson, Mo. have become more favorable since last week, but views on the subject have become even more racially polarized Rallies and vigils are planned around the country for this weekend and Monday to mark the funeral of Michael Brown, the Missouri teenager who was shot to death on August 10 by a police officer. His death sparked weeks of unrest in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, centering on accusations of racial discrimination by the almost totally white police force against a majority black population. The police department’s reaction to the...

ST. LOUIS — The father of a black 18-year-old shot to death by a white police officer in Ferguson pleaded Sunday for a “day of silence” as he lays his son to rest Monday. “Tomorrow all I want is peace,” Michael Brown Sr. told hundreds of people in St. Louis’ largest city park during brief remarks at a festival that promotes peace over violence. “That’s all I ask.”(continued)

When does a moment become a movement? Events such as the killing of unarmed, 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., can provide the moral shock that political movements need to build their ranks and bring attention to a community’s afflictions. They can be like the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 or the beating death of Matthew Shepard in 1998 — transformative episodes that remake perceptions and force a society to abandon abhorrent practices. Or they can be like the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers: a horrific moment that failed to create a sustained...

Ferguson, Missouri (CNN) -- An independent autopsy into the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, provides "ample" evidence to support the arrest of the police officer who shot him, family attorney Daryl Parks said Monday at a news conference. Parks was particularly concerned about gunshots that medical examiners hired by the family indicate came from behind and above. "Why would he be shot in the very top of his head, a 6-foot-4 man?" Parks asked. "Makes no sense." The autopsy could support witnesses' suggestions that Brown was holding his hands up in the air, said Shawn Purcell, who assisted...