The shooting of Michael Brown occurred on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, United States, a suburb of St. Louis. Brown, an 18-year-old male, died after being shot at least six times by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, 28.^[1][2][3] Brown was unarmed and had no criminal record.^[4][5] According to Ferguson police, Brown was a suspect in a robbery allegedly committed minutes before the shooting, although the initial contact between Wilson and Brown was unrelated to the alleged robbery.^[6][7]Wilson had served four years with the Ferguson Police Department after serving two years with another local police department.^[8] He had no disciplinary history.^[9]

According to The Washington Post, the shooting of an African American male by a Caucasian police officer sparked the ongoing unrest in Ferguson due to longstanding racial tensions in a region that is "among the most segregated metropolitan areas in the nation."^[10] Peaceful protests,^[11] vandalism, and other forms of social unrest have continued^[12] for more than a week, with night curfew being imposed and escalated violence.^[13][14] Widespread media coverage examined the trend of local police departments arming themselves with "military-grade weapons" and responding in a military fashion when dealing with protesting civilians and journalists covering volatile current events.^[15]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened a civil rights investigation of the shooting.^[16] U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement expressing condolences to Brown's family and committed the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an investigation.^[17]

On August 16, following looting and violence, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and imposed curfews.^[18] Two days later, the curfews having failed to control the violence, Nixon lifted the curfews and activated the Missouri National Guard to support police operations.^[19][20]

 

 

Parties involved

Michael Brown

Michael Brown
Died	August 9, 2014 Ferguson, Missouri, U.S.
Cause of death	Gunshot wounds[21]
Ethnicity	Black[22]

Michael Brown (d. August 9, 2014) was the son of Lesley McSpadden and Mike Brown, Sr.^[23] Brown graduated from Normandy High School in St. Louis over a week prior to his death, after completing an alternative education program.^[24] The St. Louis Dispatch reported that, according to his teachers, he was "a student who loomed large and didn't cause trouble", and referred to him as a "gentle giant";^[25][26] at the time of his death, he was 6'4" (1.93m) tall and weighed 292 lb (132 kg).^[3]

Brown was to have started attending Vatterott College, a technical school, on August 11, two days after he was killed.^[26][27] According to the Benjamin Crump, the lawyer representing the Brown family, Brown wanted to become a heating and cooling engineer.^[26] A friend of Brown said that while everybody else wanted to be a basketball or football player, Brown had wanted to own his own business.^[25] Brown was an amateur rapper and posted tracks online under the name Big'Mike.^[28]

Darren Wilson

Darren Wilson
Ethnicity	White[22]
Occupation	Police officer
Employer	Ferguson Police Department

Darren Wilson lived in Crestwood, Missouri, a city of 11,000 people about 18 miles southwest of Ferguson. He was 28 years old at the time of the shooting.^[29]

On August 16, Yahoo News published a photo of Darren Wilson from February of him receiving a commendation for "extraordinary effort in the line of duty".^[30][31] His name was released by Ferguson police one week after the shooting.^[32]

Shooting incident

At 12:01 p.m. on August 9,^[3][14][33] Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson^[34][35] drove up to Brown and Dorian Johnson in the 2900 block of Canfield Drive and ordered them to move off the street and onto the sidewalk. An altercation ensued and a shot was fired from within Wilson's police vehicle, and the two men began to flee.^[36] Wilson left his vehicle and pursued them. At some point moments later, Wilson fired an unspecified number of shots, fatally wounding Brown. Brown died approximately 35 feet (11 m) from the police cruiser.^[14] According to CNN, documents show that less than three minutes passed from the time that Wilson encountered Brown to the time of Brown's death.^[37] A preliminary private autopsy performed at the request of Brown's family by Dr. Michael Baden concluded that Brown had been shot at least six times. Four of the bullets entered his right arm, one entered his right eye on a downward trajectory, and one entered the top of the skull.^[3]

As of August 15, the official police report about the shooting has not been made public.^[38]

Ferguson Police Department release of information

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson announced the name of the officer involved in the shooting in a news conference the morning of Friday, August 15, nearly a week after the officer shot Brown on Saturday afternoon. Jackson prefaced the name announcement by describing a "strong-arm" robbery that had allegedly occurred a few minutes before the shooting at a nearby convenience store. A police report released to members of the media at the news conference described Brown as the suspect involved in the alleged robbery.^[32] The owners of the convenience store told FOX 2 St. Louis that no employee or cashier of the store reported a robbery.^[39]

Hours later, Jackson held another news conference in which he said Wilson was not aware of the robbery when he stopped Brown.^[40][41]

Jackson later told NBC News that while the officer who shot Brown initially stopped him for walking in the street and blocking traffic, "at some point" during the encounter the officer saw cigars in Brown’s hands and thought he might be a suspect in the robbery.^[42] The Atlantic Wire and MSNBC have reported on the changing nature of the department's statements.^[43][44]

Witness accounts

In addition to the account provided by Dorian Johnson, a number of individuals have come forward with eyewitness accounts or video footage of events after the shooting. Tiffany Mitchell arrived in the area to pick up co-worker Piaget Crenshaw, both of whom gave interviews to local and national news media.^[36]

Dorian Johnson's account

According to Michael Brown's friend, Dorian Johnson, who was walking with Brown at the time, the police officer pulled up beside them and said, "Get the fuck on the sidewalk."^{[45][46][47][48][49]} Johnson said the young men replied that they were "not but a minute away from [their] destination, and [they] would shortly be out of the street".^[49] Johnson stated that the officer drove forward without saying anything further, only to abruptly back up, positioning his vehicle crossways in their path, almost hitting the two men. He said, "We were so close, almost inches away, that when he tried to open his door aggressively, the door ricocheted both off me and Big Mike's body and closed back on the officer."

At that point, the officer, still in his car, grabbed Brown through the open window around the neck. Brown tried to pull away, but the officer continued to pull Brown toward him.

According to Johnson, Brown "did not reach for the officer's weapon at all", insisting that Brown was attempting to get free of the officer rather than attempting to attack him or take his weapon from him.^{[50][51][47][52][53]}

At that point, according to Johnson, the officer drew his weapon, and "he said, 'I'll shoot you' or 'I'm going to shoot,'" and almost instantaneously fired his weapon, hitting Brown.

Following the initial gunshot, Johnson said that Brown was able to free himself, at which point the two fled for their lives. The officer exited the vehicle, after which he fired a second shot, striking Brown in the back according to Johnson. At that point, according to Johnson, Brown turned around with his hands in the air and said, "I don't have a gun. Stop shooting!" The officer then shot Brown several more times, killing him.^[36][54]Johnson's attorney stated that Wilson did not attempt to resuscitate Brown, did not call for medical help, and "he didn't call it in that someone had been shot."^[55]

Piaget Crenshaw's account

Piaget Crenshaw, a witness to the shooting, said that from her vantage point, it appeared that the police officer and Brown were arm wrestling before the officer initially shot Brown from within his vehicle. The officer then chased Brown for about 20 feet before shooting him again. Crenshaw stated, "I saw the police chase him ... down the street and shoot him down."^[56] She added that when Brown then raised his arms, the officer shot him two more times, killing him.^[57]

According to earlier reports that appeared on August 10, 2014, Crenshaw said she saw Brown attempt to flee with his hands in the air and that he was hit with several shots as he ran.^[53][58]

On August 18, 2014, after the release of Baden's autopsy report, Crenshaw told CNN's Michaela Pereira that no shots hit Brown's back as he was running away, "Clearly none of [the shots] hit him, but one, I think, did graze him as they said on the autopsy report. At the end, he just turned around ... after I'm guessing he felt the bullet grazed his arm, he turned around and he was shot multiple times."^[59]

Police account

In a news conference on August 10, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar stated, "The genesis of this shooting incident was a physical confrontation" during which Brown "physically assaulted the police officer".^[1]According to Belmar, the officer attempted to exit his vehicle but was pushed back into the car by Brown, who then assaulted the officer inside the car. Brown then allegedly attempted to seize the officer's gun, which was fired at least once during the struggle. Belmar acknowledged that "more than a couple" of shots were fired in the course of the encounter.^[1][60][61]

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson later stated that the officer who shot Brown was injured in the incident.^[62] The Ferguson City Police Department had declined to identify the officer involved in the shooting, who had been placed on administrative leave, but released Officer Wilson's name on August 15, 2014.^[62] Dashboard cameras are not used in Ferguson police cars.^[60]

Tiffany Mitchell's account

Tiffany Mitchell, in an interview with St. Louis television news station KMOV, said she arrived in the area near the beginning of the altercation. She said that she was watching as the first gunshot was fired while the police officer, but not Brown, was still in the vehicle, at which point she attempted to retrieve her cell phone in order to film the unfolding event, but stopped and sought cover when she heard gunshots.^[63] She described the shooting as the following:

"As I pull onto the side, the kid, he finally gets away, he starts running. As he runs the police get out of his vehicle and he follows behind him, shooting. And the kid's body jerked as if he was hit from behind, and he turns around and puts his hands up like this, and the cop continued to fire until he just dropped down to the ground and his face just smacks the concrete."^[64]

Bystander heard on video of incident

Some sources suggest that an unidentified bystander, heard speaking in the background of a video filmed shortly after the shooting, appears to confirm the police account.^[65][66][67] According to The Daily Caller, after Brown stopped running and turned his back, "Next thing I know he's coming back towards the police. The police had his gun drawn on him," according to the bystander. "Police kept dumping on him, I'm thinking that the police missed him," he continued, saying that he heard "at least five shots". The bystander continued, "I think ... dude start running, kept coming toward the police," which the Daily Caller says contradicts other witnesses' accounts.^[66][67]

Investigations

On August 10, Jon Belmar, chief of the St. Louis County Police Department, announced that their department would be in charge of the investigation, after receiving a request from Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jacksonto investigate the shooting.^[60][68] The Ferguson Police department initially declined to name the officer involved in the shooting, citing concerns for his safety, and refused to commit to a deadline for releasing a full autopsy report.^[69] When the investigation is complete, the St. Louis County police will turn over the case to St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch, the official charged with determining if state charges will be filed.^[68] County Executive Charlie Dooley called for a special prosecutor, arguing that McCulloch is "biased and shouldn't handle the case".^[70] Democratic politicians argued that the investigation should be conducted by a higher authority than the local prosecutor officer, because of a poor history of prosecuting law enforcement officers in controversial cases, and argued that McCulloch should withdraw.^[71]

On August 11, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened a parallel civil rights investigation into the incident,^[16] and United States Attorney General Eric Holder instructed the Justice Department's staff to monitor the developments.^[72] According to the spokeswoman for the FBI's St. Louis field office, the protests and riots played no role in the FBI's decision to investigate.^[73] On August 13, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Richard G. Callahan announced a civil rights investigation into the case.^[74] On August 17, Attorney General Holder authorized a second autopsy of Brown by a federal medical examiner.^[75] A spokesman for the Justice Department said that Holder authorized the second autopsy of Michael Brown to ensure objectivity, citing "the extraordinary circumstances involved in this case" and a request by the Brown family.^[75]

On August 16, Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson said there were 40 FBI agents going door-to-door looking for potential witnesses that may have information about the shooting.^[76][77] Additionally, the Justice Department confirmed that attorneys from its Civil Rights Division and from the United States Attorney's Office were participating in the investigation.^[77]

Robbery incident report

According to information released by the Ferguson Police Department on August 15, Brown and Dorian Johnson were suspects in a "strong-arm robbery" of a convenience store (defined as a robbery in which physical force is used but not a weapon).^[78] The report stated that the convenience store's surveillance footage (which was also released) showed Brown grabbing a box of Swisher Sweet cigars, followed by an "apparent struggle or confrontation" between Brown and a store clerk.^[55][38] According to police chief Jackson, a 911 call was received at 11:51 a.m., and after a description of the robbers was communicated by dispatchers, officer Darren Wilson encountered Brown and Johnson at 12:01 p.m.^[38][79] At an afternoon press conference on August 15, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson confirmed "the initial contact with Brown was not related to the robbery." He also stated that the officer was unaware that Brown was a suspect in the robbery, instead Brown and Johnson had been stopped for blocking traffic.^[6][42][80]

Freeman Bosley, the attorney for Dorian Johnson, who was with Brown at the time, confirmed that they had in fact entered the store and cigarillos were taken, and that Johnson had informed the FBI, DOJ, and St. Louis County Police of this fact.^[42] In previous interviews, Johnson described the events of the shooting but did not mention that he and Brown had been in a convenience store just before, or that Brown had stolen anything.^[42] Police Chief Jackson said that Johnson would not be charged in the alleged robbery stating that they had determined he did not steal anything or use force.^[81]

On August 15, police released other details of the robbery incident (Ferguson Police Offense/Incident Report: "complaint No. 12-12388") and the shooting incident ("Ferguson Police Report #2014-12391" and "St Louis County Police Report #2014-043984") in a packet of materials.^[7][82] Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson also released the name of the police officer who shot Brown,^[82] identifying him as Darren Wilson, a six-year veteran of the department, who lived in Crestwood, Missouri.^[83]

When asked why the police department released the report and video about the alleged robbery when it was unrelated to the shooting, Jackson said "because the press asked for it", adding that he decided to do so in response to a large number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. When he was asked about Wilson, Jackson called him "a gentleman" and "a quiet officer", and said that he "never meant for this to happen".^[84] Ronald Johnson, the Highway Patrol Captain put in charge of policing Ferguson, was not informed before the release of the robbery report, and said "I would have liked to have been consulted".^[85] The Department of Justice had urged the tape not be released, arguing a release would inflame tension,^[86] but the surveillance video was released by Jackson over their objections.^[87]

This was the first time the police provided details on the alleged robbery, but they did not provide any additional information regarding the confrontation or why Brown was ultimately shot and killed.^[38]

Reactions

The Brown family's lawyer, said that "Nothing, based on the facts before us, justifies the execution-style murder by this police officer in broad daylight. The police are playing games here and the parents are beyond incensed with the way that the police are handling the distribution of information. The police are not being transparent and they are strategically trying to justify this execution-style murder."^[8]

Johnson's lawyer confirmed that Brown had taken cigars from the store, and said that "We see that there's tape, that they claim they got a tape that shows there was some sort of strong-armed robbery," said Freeman Bosley, Johnson's attorney. "We need to see that tape, my client did tell us and told the FBI that they went into the store. He told FBI that [Brown] did take cigarillos. He told that to the DOJ and the St. Louis County Police."^[42] In previous interviews, Johnson described the events of the shooting but did not mention that he and Brown had been in a convenience store just before, or that Brown had stolen anything.^[42]

The family of Michael Brown released a statement in which they condemn the way the police chief chose to disseminate information, which they said it was "intended to assassinate the character of their son, following such a brutal assassination of his person in broad daylight", and "there is nothing based on the facts that have been placed before us that can justify the execution style murder of their child by this police officer as he held his hands up, which is the universal sign of surrender."^[88]

Anthony Rothert, the legal director for the Missouri branch of the ACLU, who had sued for the release of the incident report describing Brown's shooting, told ABC News in response to the report that "I think it's fair to say that releasing some records, but not releasing others when they're equally public record seems to be an intentional effort to distract the public. They're hiding it for whatever reason.... That leaves the public to imagine why that's being hidden."^[89]

Wayne Fisher, a professor with the Rutgers University Police Institute in New Jersey, said that "if the robbery in any way caused the initial contact, it has relevance ... if it didn't, it has none. The use of deadly force in this situation will be authorized if the officer reasonably believed his life was in danger, that question does not appear to be directly related to whether or not Brown was a suspect in a robbery." Eugene O'Donnell, a former district attorney in New York City who now serves as a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that while the police officer may have stopped Brown for jaywalking, Brown may have been thinking the officer knew about the robbery: "Obviously the cop's reaction is not affected, but what could be affected is [Brown's] reaction to the cop."^[90]

Daniel Isom II, a retired St. Louis police chief who now teaches at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, was critical of Jackson's leadership, saying that: "It's clear the Ferguson chief is overwhelmed by the magnitude of this incident. He has been releasing information as he sees appropriate, but maybe not taking into consideration the impact of releasing that information."^[91]

In an interview with CBS's Face the Nation on August 17, Nixon blamed the local police chief for the renewed violence in Ferguson after the release of the robbery tapes, stating, "it had an incendiary effect. When you release pictures and you clearly are attempting to besmirch a victim of a shooting, shot down in his own street, a young man, and at the same time you're releasing information ... to tarnish him, then properly, there was a lot of folks that were concerned about that, and I do think it flamed it back up and has caused us to have to deal with some of that."^[92]

Autopsy

Preliminary autopsy

On August 17, 2014, a preliminary autopsy was conducted by Dr. Michael M. Baden, the former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, at the request of the family. According to the report, Brown was shot six times into his front: four times to the right arm (palm facing forward), one to the right eye, and one to the head.^[3] According to Baden, no bullets were fired at point blank range, and would have been fired from 1 foot away or farther.^[93] Baden stated, "This one here looks like his head was bent downward, it can be because he's giving up, or because he's charging forward at the officer."^[3][94][95]

One of the shots to Brown's head shattered his right eye, traveled through his face, then exited his jaw and reentered his collarbone. The shot that entered the top of Brown's skull caused the fatal injury, according to Baden. Baden also provided a diagram of the entry wounds, noting that the six shots produced multiple wounds, with some of the bullets entering and exiting several times.^[3] He also said that Brown could have survived the first bullet wounds, but the bullets that entered the top of his head resulted in a fatal injury.^[96] Shawn L. Parcells, who assisted Baden on the autopsy, said that the wounds to the right arm were consistent with Brown either having his back to the officer, facing the officer with his hands above his head, or in a defensive position.^[97]

Baden had no access to X-rays showing where the bullets were found to clarify the autopsy results, nor did he have access to witness reports. He stated that in his capacity as the forensic examiner for the New York State Police, he would say, "'You're not supposed to shoot so many times'. Right now there is too little information to forensically reconstruct the shooting."^[3]

On the same day, before Baden's autopsy report was released, Attorney General Eric Holder authorized a third autopsy of Michael Brown. The first autopsy was done locally.^{[98][99][100]}

Medical examiner autopsy

The local medical examiner autopsy report released to state prosecutors said that Brown was shot in the front part of his body. When St. Louis County medical examiner Mary Case was asked to provide details, she declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation into Brown's death. A source close to the Ferguson police who spoke to The Washington Post on condition of anonymity said that marijuana was found in Brown's system.^{[101][unreliable source?]}

Aftermath in Ferguson

Peaceful protests and civil disorder broke out the day following Brown's shooting and lasted for several days. As the details of the original shooting event emerged from investigators, police grappled with establishing curfews and maintaining order, while members of the Ferguson community demonstrated in various ways in the vicinity of the original shooting.

Overview

The protests began the day after the shooting. On August 10, a day of memorials began peacefully, but some crowd members became unruly after an evening candlelight vigil.^[102] Local police stations assembled approximately 150 officers in riot gear.^[103] Some people began looting businesses, vandalizing vehicles, and confronting police officers who sought to block off access to several areas of the city.^[102] At least 12 businesses were looted or vandalized, and a gas station was also set on fire, leading to over 30 arrests. Many windows were broken and several nearby businesses closed on Monday.^[104] The people arrested face charges of assault, burglary, and theft. Police used a variety of equipment, including riot gear and helicopters, to disperse the crowd by 2:00 a.m.^[105] Two police officers suffered minor injuries during the events.^[106]

Thereafter, every day brought additional protests and demonstrations and additional reactions by law enforcement officials. The nightly "violent clashes" in the streets were widely portrayed in news media, with, for example, some images of demonstrators throwing glass bottles and other images of police in riot gear using tear gas. In other cases, there were reports of protesters and law enforcement working together to prevent looting, or of Ferguson community members providing hot dogs to law enforcement officials even as they awaited justice in the shooting.

Reactions

In the United States

Federal government

• On August 12, President Barack Obama offered his condolences to Brown's family and community. He stated that the Department of Justice was investigating the situation along with local officials.^[17]
• FAA—On August 12, citing an incident where a Ferguson Police Department helicopter was fired on from the ground, the FAA implemented a no-fly zone over Ferguson.^[107][108]
• On August 18, President Obama announced that the Department of Justice had launched an independent, federal civil rights investigation into Brown's death.^[109]
• In an August 14 op-ed in Time Magazine, U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said that police forces need to be demilitarized and that "[t]he shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown is an awful tragedy" and that "Anyone who thinks race does not skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention."^[110]
• Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Representative Justin Amash of Michigan tweeted similar descriptions of Ferguson as a "war zone" in the aftermath of the police actions of August 12, with Amash calling the situation "frightening" on August 13 and Warren demanding answers on August 14.^[111]
• Representative Lacy Clay of Missouri, who represents Ferguson, stated on August 16 that he had "absolutely no confidence in the Ferguson police, the county prosecutor" to conduct a fair investigation into Brown's death.^[112] Clay suggested that the police had released the information about the robbery in order to "negatively influence a jury pool in St. Louis County" and to "assassinate Michael Brown's character". On August 17, Clay called for "a national conversation about how police forces should interact with the African-American community".

Missouri government

• On August 14, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon stated that the Ferguson riots were "deeply challenging" and "promised 'operational shifts' to ease the situation,^[113] using the Missouri State Highway Patrol to direct security.^[114]
• Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a Missouri Senator who represented parts of Ferguson and was tear-gassed during the demonstrations, said in an interview that "It doesn't matter if Michael Brown committed theft or not. That's not the issue. The issue is what happened when Darren Wilson encountered Michael Brown, and when he died—when he was killed. Those are the only facts that are necessary."^[115]

Local authorities

• Jennings, Missouri: In response to safety concerns, the school district in nearby Jennings cancelled the first day of classes.^[116][117]
• Ferguson-Florissant School District, Missouri: In response to the continuing unrest in the community, Ferguson-Flourissant schools that were to open Thursday were closed and scheduled to reopen Monday.^[118]On Sunday, August 17, the school district again cancelled the first day of classes due to ongoing unrest.
• Shortly after 9 p.m. on Monday, August 18, administrators for the district announced that school would continue be closed through the end of the school week.^[119][120]
• On August 12, St. Louis Police Department chief Sam Dotson decided against providing any more manpower to Ferguson owing to concerns about the welfare of the protesters and police handling of the situation.^[121]

Brown family

• A member of the Brown family released a statement saying that "the stealing and breaking in stores is not what Mike will want, it is very upsetting to me and my family." The statement also said, "Our family didn't ask for this but for justice and peace."^[73]

Polls

• A Pew Research poll conducted August 14–17 among 1,000 adults, found stark racial and political divisions in reactions to the shooting. By about four-to-one, African Americans (80% to 18%) said the shooting raised important issues about race, while whites, by 47% to 37%, said the issue of race is getting more attention than it deserves. The divide in public opinion was also observed across partisan lines, with 68% of Democrats (including 62% of white Democrats) thought the incident raises important issues about race that merit discussion, while 61% of Republicans said the issue of race has gotten too much attention. Republicans were also more likely than Democrats to view the police response to as appropriate (43%), compared with 56% of Democrats who said police response went too far; 65% of Republicans expressed confidence in the investigations into the incident, compared with 38% of Democrats.^[122]

Third parties

• On August 10, Reverend Al Sharpton and the National Action Network announced their plans to travel to St. Louis.^[123][124]
• Local pastors held a vigil on the morning of Sunday, August 10.^[124] Another vigil was planned on the same day, at 8:00 p.m. in the area where Brown was killed.^[124]
• National vigils and marches occurred on the evening of Thursday, August 14, in over 100 cities around the U.S. with thousands in attendance. They were organized by @FeministaJones, using Twitter and the #NMOS14 hashtag.^[125][126]
• Hacktivists claiming an association with Anonymous and operating under the codename "Operation Ferguson" organized cyberprotests by setting up a website and a Twitter account.^[127] The group promised that if any protesters were harassed or harmed, they would attack the city's servers and computers, taking them offline.^[127] City officials said that e-mail systems were targeted and phones died, while the Internet crashed at the City Hall.^[127][128] Prior to August 15, members of Anonymous corresponding withMother Jones said that they were working on confirming the identity of the undisclosed police officer who shot Brown and would release his name as soon as they did.^[129]On August 14, Anonymous posted on its Twitter feed what it claimed was the name of the officer involved in the shooting.^[130][131] However, police said the identity released by Anonymous was incorrect.^[132] Twitter subsequently suspended the Anonymous account from its service.^[133]
• A group of Tibetan monks joined the protesters in Ferguson on Sunday, August 17.^[134]
• On August 17, about 150 people protested in downtown St. Louis in support of Darren Wilson. The protesters argued that Wilson had been victimized and that any punishment for him would cause law enforcement officers to be "frightened to do their jobs."^[135]
• CNN described the incident as having triggered a national debate on race relations, as well as the use of force and the militarization of the police in the United States.^[12]

International reactions

Amnesty International

Amnesty International sent a team of human rights observers, trainers and researchers to Ferguson. It was the first time the organization deployed such a team in the United States.^{[136][137][138]} In a press release, AI USA director Steven W. Hawkins said, "The U.S. cannot continue to allow those obligated and duty-bound to protect to become those who their community fears most."^[139]

China

The New China News Agency said hours before Nixon ordered National Guard troops into Ferguson: "Obviously, what the United States needs to do is to concentrate on solving its own problems rather than always pointing fingers at others."^[140]

Germany

Der Spiegel posted an interview with Marcel Kuhlmey, professor in the department of security management at the Berlin University of Economics and Law, a security expert, who asserted that what happened in Ferguson could never happen in Germany, stating that "In the U.S., it seems to me, the police are far quicker to resort to guns. Even at the training stage, there is a much heavier emphasis on shooting [than in Germany]".^[140] Zeit Online described the incident as an example of deep-rooted racism in the U.S, concluding that "the situation of African-Americans has barely improved since Martin Luther King."^[141]

Egypt

Egypt's Ministry of Foreign affairs stressed that it agrees calls for "self restraint and respect for the right of assembly and peaceful expression of opinion" in the protests, hoping that the American authorities deal with the protests according to 'the international standards'.^[142] Egypt's Foreign Ministry Spokesman said that Egypt is closely following up with the "mounting protests" in Ferguson.^[143]

Iran

The Islamic Republic News Agency commented, "[V]iolence has become institutionalized in the U.S. in recent years, but since President Obama, the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, came to the White House, the violence has intensified, and now it has erupted against blacks in Ferguson."^[140]

Middle East

Protesters in the Middle East have expressed support for protesters in Ferguson, using social media to equate the protests and police response to conflicts in Egypt, Turkey, and the Gaza Strip, and offered advice on how to deal with tear gas.^[144]

Russia

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated "our American partners [have] to pay more attention to restoring order in their own country before imposing their dubious experience on other nations" and that the U.S "has positioned itself as a 'bastion of human rights' and is actively engaged in 'export of democracy' on a systematic basis", but that "serious violations of basic human rights and barbaric practices thrive" in the country.^[140]

Spain

El Mundo, wrote that Obama's "words of peace and reconciliation are perceived by many activists as inadequate and almost treason to a situation they see as a direct result of slavery and racial segregation laws that were in force until 1965."^[141]

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan Daily News opined: "For the U.S. to issue a travel warning for Sri Lanka does seem odd at a time when there are race riots in Missouri."^[140]

Secretary-General of the United Nations

On August 18, Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon called for U.S. authorities to ensure protection of the protesters' rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. Through a spokesman, Ban called for "all to exercise restraint, for law enforcement officials to abide by U.S. and international standards in dealing with demonstrators".^[145]

United Kingdom

Abigail Chandler of the newspaper The Metro wrote that "[w]hile the [London riots] were at their worst, people were calling for rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to be used against the rioters, Ferguson is a living example of why we should be immensely grateful that those tactics were never used during the U.K. riots."^[141]