David Carson Photojournalist

Ferguson, Michael Brown

 

  • On Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson police officer in Missouri, shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man. Some witnesses say Brown had his hands raised over his head and was surrendering. Another account, according to an investigator, is that Brown assaulted Wilson, reached for the officer's gun and was charging toward the officer when he was shot.  Brown's death sparked a massive response from those upset with what they viewed as an unjustified shooting and the continued targeting of African-American people by police. A candlelight vigil on Sunday, Aug. 10 for Brown turned violent as police and protesters squared off. The outnumbered police withdrew from the area to call in back up and crowds began to loot businesses and riot in the streets.Weeks of sustained, sometimes violent, protests followed. On the most intense nights of unrest some protesters threw rocks, bottles, Molotov cocktails, fired gunshots and set fires. In response police used tear gas, rubber bullets and flashbang grenades to break up the crowd. The days and weeks have stretched into months of protests. Protesters are calling for the arrest of Officer Wilson on murder charges and are seeking wider systematic change. Local, state and federal officials have all launched investigations into the shooting. Currently the region is waiting for the grand jury's decision about whether or not Officer Wilson will face charges in connection with the shooting.
  • The pavement still wet from being hosed down to wash blood off the road, Pastor Charles Ewing grieves and prays near the spot his nephew Michael Brown Jr. was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo. on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014.  Ewing was the first person to stand on the spot after the crime scene tape came down and police left the area.
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  • Police officers confront a crowd they're trying to break up a on Canfield Dr. in Ferguson, Mo. on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014. Earlier in the day police had shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed18 year-old man, and community members turned out large numbers at the scene to express their outrage.
  • {quote}Don't shoot us{quote} cries out the crowd as they confront police officers arriving to break up a crowd on Canfield Dr. in Ferguson, Mo. on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014. Earlier in the day police had shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed18 year-old man, and community members turned out large numbers at the scene to express their outrage.
  • Police officers speak to a man as they try to calm down and break up a crowd on Canfield Dr. in Ferguson on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014. Earlier in the day police had shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed18 year-old man, and community members turned out large numbers to express their outrage.  Police officers eventually withdrew from the apartment complex.
  • A looter takes items from inside the QuikTrip in 9400 block of W. Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Mo. on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014. Rioters set fire to the store about an hour later.
  • A looter armed with a gun in his waist band steals items from inside the QuikTrip on W. Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Mo. on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014.  Looting and riots broke out at the end of a candle light vigil for Michael Brown, an unarmed 18 year-old who was shot and killed by police.  The looters later burned the store after police withdrew from the area to wait for reinforcements.
  • The QuikTrip in 9400 block of W. Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Mo. burns after being looted by rioters on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014.  The looting and riots began after a candlelight vigil for Michael Brown when confrontions between police and protesters spiraled out of control.
  • The QuikTrip in 9400 block of W. Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Mo. burns after being looted by rioters on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014.  The looting and riots began after a candlelight vigil for Michael Brown when confrontions between police and protesters spiraled out of control.
  • A man stare defiantly at police was he walks through a cloud of tear police deployed to dispersed a crowd at the corner of Lang Drive and W. Florissant Avenue on in Ferguson, Mo. Monday Aug. 11, 2014.
  • A police sharp shooter keeps an eye on protesters along W. Florissant Avenue near the QuikTrip that was burned down a few days earlier in Ferguson, Mo. on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014.
  • Brent Kirby (center), 23, from Florissant, and Del Foster (right), 20, from Ferguson, check out the burnt out QuikTrip in Ferguson, Mo. on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014.  The QuikTrip, that was burned down by looters two days earlier, become a focal point for clashes between police and protesters.
  • Women argue with police officers to let them pass and go home because they were afraid of being near the protest scene with their children if things turned violent along W. Florissant Avenue on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014.  The women were eventually allowed to pass, but not without a heated argument between them, the crowd and the police.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Protesters cover their face as they look toward the police blocking W. Florissant Avenue on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014 near the QuikTrip that was burned down a few days earlier in Ferguson.
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  • St. Louis County police officers watch as a group of protesters leave the area near the QuikTrip that was burned down a few days earlier in W. Florissant Avenue on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014.  Earlier in the night police showed restraint not shooting at a car that drove at high speed towards them stopping just thirty yards short of them.
  • St. Louis County police officers keep an eye out for two armed men as they search the woods for gunmen along W. Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Mo. on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2014. A short time earlier police shot and critically wounded a different armed man.
  • Hassan  on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Buttons that state, {quote}Justice for Michael Brown, {quote} are sold from a box by a vender near the QuickTrip at 9240 W. Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Mo. on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014.
  • Terrell Williams El, comforts his daughter Sharell Williams, 9, as Temika Williams, 6, (bottom) stays close to her mom Shamika Williams, and sister Shanell Williams, 2, near a line of police in riot gear on West Florissant Ave. on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014.
  • A protester takes cover as he crouches down to protect himself from tear gas and flash bangs exploding around him that were fired police fired to break up a crowd on W. Florissant Avenue in Fergson, Mo. on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014. Shortly before this picture was shot the protester ran up, grabbed a tear gas canister and threw it back at the police.
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  • A crowd of protesters gather near the spot where Mike Brown was shot and killed by a police officer on Canfield Drive after they marched from Chamber Road on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014.
  • Keith Lovett (left), Melik Smith, Victoria Smith, Linda Smith and Antonio McDonald(right) hold candles during a gathering of people at the QuikTrip in Ferguson Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014.  Thursday marked the first peaceful night protests since Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer.
  • Friends Jaishyne Brister, 8, Jermell Sane, 11, Martez Bryant, 13, Armoni Whitaker, 10, and Chase Brister, 12, pose for a picture on Ward Drive in Ferguson a few blocks away from the honking and chants of protesters at the Mike Brown protests at the QuikTrip on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014.
  • This is my Mike Brown{quote} says Jamile Thompson, of St. Louis City, as she holds her son Carter Ramey, 18 months, while calling out to cars passing the burnt out QuikTrip W. Florissant Avenue on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-disptch.com
  • Jamel Easley, from the Walnut Park neighborhood in St. Louis city, takes in the scene from on top of a van parked at the corner of Canfield Drive and W Florissant Avenue on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-disptch.com
  • Members of the St. Louis County Police tactical team watch movies at the command center as they wait for a call to help deal with crowds of people along W. Florissant Road in Ferguson, Mo. on Monday, Aug. 18, 2014.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Reverend Michael Boehm says a prayer during roll call with police officers and St. Louis County Police tactical team as they make a plan for how to deal with crowds of people along W. Florissant Road in Ferguson on Monday, Aug. 18, 2014.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • A man who did not follow police orders is arrested during demonstration along W. Florissant Road in Ferguson on Monday, Aug. 18, 2014.
  • A group of protesters looks at a line of police gathered near the QuikTrip on Florissant Road in Ferguson, Mo. on Monday, Aug. 18, 2014.
  • A member of the St. Louis County Police tactical team fires rounds of tear gas into a crowd of people in response to a series of gunshots fired at the police during demonstrations along W. Florissant Road near the QuikTrip in Ferguson, Mo. on Monday, Aug. 18, 2014.  Protesters also threw bottles and rocks with at least one rock striking an officer in the arm.
  • Members of the Missouri Highway Patrol tactical team treat an injured man found in a ditch during demonstrations along W. Florissant Road near the QuikTrip in Ferguson, Mo. on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014.
  • Members of the St. Louis County Police tactical team take a truck load of 12 people into custody after they stopped it driving along W. Florissant Road near Canfield Drive in Ferguson, Mo. on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014.  The police found two loaded guns on the people in the truck and removed a large Molotov cocktail from the truck.
  • A member of the St. Louis County Police tactical team reacts after finding a gun on a man who was riding a truck with 11 other people when it was stopped along W. Florissant Avenue near Canfield Drive in Ferguson on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014.  The police found two loaded guns on the people in the truck and removed a large Molotov cocktail from the truck.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • A Molotov cocktail sits near a police car after it was removed from a truck carrying 12 people when it was stopped along W. Florissant Avenue near Canfield Drive in Ferguson on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014.  The police also found two loaded guns on the people in the truck.
  • Members of the St. Louis County Police tactical team take a truck load of 12 people into custody after they stopped it driving along W. Florissant Road near Canfield Drive in Ferguson, Mo. on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014.  The police found two loaded guns on the people in the truck and removed a large Molotov cocktail from the truck.
  • A member of the St. Louis County Police tactical team sleeps in the back of the team's armored truck after arriving back at the command post W. Florissant Avenue at about 2:49 A.M. on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014.
  • A Peace keeper (center left) and an man who was giving an impassioned speech advocating for a more confrontational protest argue near the McDonalds on W. Florissant Avenue in Ferguson on Sunday, Aug 24, 2014.   There was a debate in the crowd about what type of protest was going to be taking place with some people advocating a peaceful protest and others seeking a more confrontational approach.
  • The casket of Michael Brown is taken by horse and carriage through St. Peters Cemetery to his gravesite in Normandy, Mo. on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014.
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  • Elaine Wirt (left), Peggy Faul, and Brian Fletcher go over some paper work about the I ❤ FERGUSON committee at Corner Coffee House in Ferguson on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. The committee that is selling the I ❤ FERGUSON shirts, buttons and yard signs recently received a letter from a man claiming the shirts violate his trademark on I ❤ FERGUSON.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • A small group protesters march along W. Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Mo. on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2014.  The large crowds and vocal protesters from earlier in the protests have mostly disappeared now.  Typically there has been less than a 100 people along W. Florissant protesting during the evening hours.  Some nights there have only been a couple of dozen people.
  • Members of the crowd scatter as police rush into a sea of people in an attempt to make an arrest during a demonstration on Hanley Road at Interstate 70 in St. Louis County on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014.  Protesters had announced their intention to shutdown traffic on Interstate 70 to protest the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer but police block protesters access to the highway.
  • Cleo Willis (center) yells to fellow demonstrators squaring office with police who were blocking the on ramp to Interstate 70 East at Hanley Road during a demonstration in St. Louis County on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014.  Protesters had announced their intention to shutdown traffic on Interstate 70 to protest the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer but police blocked protesters access to the highway.
  • Tim Sneed kneels at Michael Brown's memorial that had burned earlier in the day as a new pile of stuffed animals and items began to appear at the spot on Canfield Drive on Tuesday, Sept. 23.  The fire started somewhere between 6:30 and 7 A.M
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  • Lakeyra Stephens, 20, takes shelter from the rain under her umbrella after she marched with protesters around downtown Clayton during the first Ferguson October protests on Friday, Oct. 10, 2014.  About 400 people too part in the march and protest aimed at getting justice for Michael Brown and to get St. Louis County prosecuting attorney's Bob McCulloch to step aside and bring in a special prosecutor.  Stephens, a Webster University student from Texas, says she showed put show solidarity with the protesters.  She went on to say that she was surprised by the level of segregation she sees in St. Louis compared to Texas.
  • Protesters confront police officers lined up outside there Ferguson police department with a mirrored coffin made of broke glass during a Ferguson October protests on Friday, Oct. 10, 2014.
  • People chant before the start Ferguson October march in downtown St. Louis on Saturday, October, 11, 2014.  Thousands of people took part in the march down Market Street and rally in Kiener Plaza.
  • Thousands of protesters from around the country march towards Kiener Plaza in downtown St. Louis during the Ferguson October rally on Saturday, October, 11, 2014.  The unrest in Ferguson rising from the death of Michael Brown spread around the world on social media and was beginning to grown into a movement.
  • Michael Brown protesters fight to regain control of a flag that was taken by a football fan (right) leaving the Edward Jones Dome after the St. Louis Rams game in St. Louis on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2014.  Several fights erupted in a confusing and hectic scene as fans and protesters mixed after the game. Police arrested two protesters but no fans as a result of the melee.
  • Lisa Johnson, 49, from Northwoods, walks out of the Ferguson Market & Liquor store on West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2014.  {quote}They're not going to make the right decision{quote} said Johnson expressing concern about the grand jury's decision that is expected to be released any day now.   {quote}If they're going to continue to kill our children we should be able to sue those officers.{quote}  Johnson's daughter and three grandchildren live on Canfield Drive.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Snow falls on Michael Brown's memorial on Canfield Drive in Ferguson on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014.  It has been 100 days since Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer on Aug. 9th.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Police officers gather around a television in the unified commend center at the Westfall Plaza shopping center to watch the announcement of the grand jury's decision to not file charges against Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Members of the St. Louis County Police tactical team respond to a call for help on S. Florissant Avenue on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Members of the St. Louis County Police tactical team are engulfed in tear gas as they try to disperse a crowd near the Ferguson police station on S. Florissant Avenue in Ferguson on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Police officers gather outside the Beauty Town building as it is engulfed in flames on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • St. Louis County Police tactical team arrive on W. Florissant Avenue to disperse crowd as the Beauty Town store burns on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • A police officer keeps an eye out for movement along West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014.   Smoke from a burning building can be seen rising to the right.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Police officers take a group of people into custody on New Halls Ferry Road on suspicion of looting in Ferguson on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • A protester balances along the curb while marching past a line of police flipping them off during a demonstration along Hanley Road on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Protesters lay down in the street to block Lindell Boulevard at Whittier Street in St. Louis on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014.  About 100 people marched through the Central West End neighborhood occasionally blocking traffic but were peaceful in their demonstrations.  After a short while police ordered the protesters out of the street and they complied, got up and left the area.  They were protesting the grand jury's decision not to charge Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Micael Brown.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-disaptch.com
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  • A protester lights a flag on fire outside the Ferguson police department on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014.  The protester needed to add an accelerant to the flag to get it to burn when they he was unable to get it to ignite with just a lighter.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • {quote}Black lives matter{quote} shout protesters Daniel Conford (left), Tracy Parks, Ashley Carter, Judy Lucas and Luke Davis(right) as they all link arms and face off to police at during a demonstration along Eager Road on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Amelia Alonzo, 9, and her mother Tracy Alonzo look over an aisle where protesters were holding a 4.5 minute die in at the Target in St. Louis County off of South Lindbergh Boulevard on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014.  {quote}We're explaining to her that people need their voices to be heard and that there is nothing scary going on here{quote} said Tracy Alonzo {quote}We support the protesters, I was was excited to see them here{quote}.  The protesters marched around the store and chanted for 20 minutes before leaving.  Other shoppers had a different reaction to the protests and were visibly shaken by what they saw and heard. Earlier the protesters also marched and chanted in the Walmart off of Telegraph Road. Both stores announced they were closing early and police ordered the protesters to leave, which they did. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Protesters burn an American flag across the street from the Ferguson police department to taunt National Guard troops and police lined up outside the station on Thursday, Dec. 4. 2014.  After the flag burned protesters threw the flag on the ground and National Guard troops walked across the street and picked up the charred remnants of flag so they could properly dispose of it.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Missouri National Guard soldiers Sgt. First Class Eric Allison (left) and Major Lance Dell collect pieces of an American flag protesters burned and tossed to the ground outside the Ferguson police department Thursday, Dec. 4. 2014.  {quote}They're treating it as trash, it's not trash to us.  We're not going to let them throw it on the ground and leave it there{quote} said Dell. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Joshua Williams (left center) and Nicholas Austin Jackson shout at St. Louis police chief Sam Dotson (left) as he tries to give a presentation during the second meeting of the Ferguson Commission in St. Louis on Monday, Dec. 8, 2014.  Some in the crowd stood and turned their back on Dotson as he spoke, others heckled him. Ferguson Commission member and Director of the Missouri Department of of Public Safety Dan Isom is pictured to the right. Isom was the St. Louis chief of police before Dotson.  The Ferguson Commission was created by the governor of Missouri to attempt to come up with solutions for the issues a raised by the Ferguson protests.
  • Toni Martin (center) cries out on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014 as she talks to police at the scene where her son Antonio Martin, 18, was fatally shot Tuesday Dec. 23, 2014 at a Mobil gas station on North Hanley Road in Berkeley. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Police and protesters get into a physical fight on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014 on the lot of gas station where a teenager was fatally shot by a police officer late Tuesday Dec. 23, 2014 at a Mobil gas station on North Hanley Road in Berkeley. Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Two men arrested by police during a fight are seated next to a police cruiser on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014 on the lot of a gas station where teenager was fatally shot late Tuesday Dec. 23, 2014 at a Mobil gas station on North Hanley Road in Berkeley. The fight broke out after the body of the teen was removed and police and protesters got into a shoving match.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
  • Protest leader Deray McKesson(right) stands in the crowd of protesters as police officers line up protecting the entrance to the St. Louis Police Headquarters after the police pushed out the crowd trying to rush in and occupy the lobby of the station on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014.  Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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  • A protester runs away from police after she pushed a metal barricade in their direction outside the St. Louis Police Headquarters on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014.  She was arrested a short time later.Photo By David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
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