What Happens When A Police Officer Shoots An Unarmed African American Teen?

August 9th 2014, Ferguson Missouri, an unarmed black teen Michael Brown was shot, and fatally wounded by a white police officer by the name of Darren Wilson. As a direct result of deciding not to indict Officer Wilson, the black community was out raged! Riots, looting, and damage to businesses soon followed the judge’s ruling. The trial was unlike normal trials which were treated with more expedience in the process, the grand jury in Officer Wilson case met for three months and 25 days. (Buchanan, et. al. 2014)

I commence with this anecdote for several reasons one of which is to humbly acknowledge my unique, and privileged position as a Black female scholar in the midst of a war waged against Black bodies. Another reason is to recognize police brutality as a national endemic that plagues Black communities, unveiling remnants of anti-Black racism that legitimately suppresses the lives of Blacks in America . The non-indictments in each case concerning the sanctioned murder of Black youths evoke a

Beginning in late summer, this country became bombarded with stories in the news about police officers involved in some types of controversy. The controversy that started it all was an incident that happened in Ferguson, Missouri. Since August, there has been much discussion and public debate over whether a police officer’s use of deadly force against an unarmed teenager was justified. On August 9, 2014 a young man named Michael Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson after he was stopped for walking in the middle of the street. Was the shooting of an unarmed teenager in Missouri an example of police using excessive force? Who decides what force is recommended or when it becomes excessive? To determine both these questions, we first must define what constitutes specific circumstances as excessive force. Officer Darren Wilson was not guilty of using excessive or lethal force if he felt his safety or the safety of others were in danger or if Michael Brown had surrendered peacefully and without resisting arrest.

Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed on August 2014, by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Mo. Brown, an 18-year-old African-American was fatally shot and killed in the street shortly after robbing a convenience store. The disputed circumstances of the shooting of the unarmed young man sparked existing tensions in the majority-black community and law enforcements in Ferguson, Mo. The event received considerable attention in the U.S. and elsewhere, attracted protesters from outside the region, and generated a powerful debate about the relationship between law enforcement and African Americans and the police use of excessive force. The shooting prompted protests that shaken the area for weeks. The announcement of the grand jury that they decided not to indict Mr. Wilson set off another wave of protests. Many police officers have defended Wilson, pointing out that officers patrolling violent neighborhoods risk their lives, while demonstrators saw the case in terms of racism and police brutality. However, Brown’s killing and the following events in Ferguson became a national controversy touching on much larger national issues of race, justice, and police brutality. While the specifics of the Brown shooting involved is not clear, the situation would have been dramatically different had Wilson worn body camera which would have recorded the actual event. With new body camera technology

Brother Money called the meeting to order at 2:15 pm. He introduced the two CMPD Officers (Officer M. Deal #0701 and Officer J. Mullis #2138) The Officers talked about the motorcycle laws (General Statue 20-158 Law) The two Officers talked about the amount of time that you had to wait at a stop light before turning on a red light. Three minutes is the time limit if all was clear and no one is in the crosswalk. Brother Money informed the Brothers that Road Captains pulling out in front of traffic was impeding the flow of traffic. The two Officers reinforced what Brother Money was saying. Brother Money talked about the confusion with the Law and people not understanding rules. Officer Mullis talked about our rights as a Club. Brother

On August 9, 2014 Officer Darren Wilson with the Ferguson Missouri Police Department was on his way to a reported strong-arm robbery at a local convenience store in the city. While on his way, he observed two African-American males walking in the middle of the roadway (#1). Officer Wilson realized the pair matched the description given of the suspects from the robbery call in which he had been dispatched. While still in his patrol vehicle, Officer Wilson drove up to the males, and began speaking with Michael Brown. Officer Wilson told Brown to not walk in the lanes of traffic (#1).

A young man’s brutal death at the hands of the police is found justified in a court of law due to his “suspicious” appearance: a black hoodie and his hands in his pocket. An elderly woman is fatally shot in her home for her relation to a suspected criminal. A married man with two toddlers is choked to death after a minor traffic stop by an officer who later claimed that his unarmed victim was wielding a gun. These people all have a few commonalities: the color of their skin, their presumed guilt at first sight, and their ultimate unjustified death administered by the law force. These are not uncommon occurrences. Due to the staggeringly disproportionate rate of African-Americans killed by the police, and the underlying rampant racial profiling, police brutality towards blacks in America must be called to light.

While in handcuffs Officer Bowman began escorting the subject outside the residence and into the patrol vehicle. As Officer Bowman and the subject approached the doorway there appears to some type of commotion. In the report Officer Bowman wrote that the subject

Parker: I didn't want to be there in the first place but I was forced to go.

On the west side of the town, his dad stopped the car. In front of them were a white house, and a yellow car. A tall man carrying a barefoot has just come out of the house, that’s John. Chief Brown told

It is evident Chester is a coward when Joyce Carol Oates dictates, “ He pressed his foot down on the accelerator, hard, not knowing or caring if the intersection was clear of traffic, and the car leapt forward, and there was muffled outcry, and the heavy thud of the black man’s body against the fender, then against the door, and then tires skidded on the wet pavement and squealed, but held; and next thing he knew, Chester was a half-block away, seeing, blurred in the rearview mirror, the black man’s body spiraled motionless in the street. He kept going, he didn’t look back” (8). Chester never stops to look back and see if the man is merely injured or if he is dead, he never calls the police; rather, he continues driving on. In fact, instead of admitting to mistake he made Chester projects blame on the black man and the police “He provoked me, I lost control. He taunted me.

“No, and the police is preventing anyone from landing too close. Buckhead’s your brother’s district, right? Think he might be here?”

“Did you witness something, Booker? Because if one of my officers is being bullied, I want to know about it.”

“What the heck?” said Mr. Jacks look around not believing he was back home. All of a sudden a police man was telling them to stop and stay where they were.

The cops ignore him, laughing as they are about to leave when William [on a roll] continues to describe the officers with names he thought would hurt them the most.