Ferguson unrest

The Ferguson unrest (sometimes called the Ferguson uprising, Ferguson protests, or the Ferguson riots) was a series of protests and riots which began in Ferguson, Missouri on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by FPD officer Darren Wilson. The unrest sparked a vigorous debate in the United States about the relationship between law enforcement officers and Black Americans, the militarization of police, and the use-of-force law in Missouri and nationwide. Continuing activism expanded the issues by including modern-day debtors prisons, for-profit policing, and school segregation.

As the details of the shooting emerged, police established curfews and deployed riot squads in anticipation of unrest. Along with peaceful protests, there was a significant amount of looting and violence in the vicinity of the site of the shooting, as well as across the city. Media criticism of the militarization of the police in Ferguson after the shooting was frequent. The unrest continued on November 24, 2014, after a grand jury did not indict Officer Wilson. It briefly flared again on the first anniversary of Brown's shooting. The Department of Justice (DOJ) concluded that Wilson shot Brown in self-defense.

In response to the shooting and the subsequent unrest, the DOJ conducted an investigation into the policing practices of the Ferguson Police Department (FPD). In March 2015, the DOJ announced that they had determined that the FPD had engaged in misconduct against the citizenry of Ferguson by, among other things, discriminating against African Americans and applying racial stereotypes in a "pattern or practice of unlawful conduct." The DOJ also found that the Ferguson city council relied on fines and other charges generated by police for funding municipal services. Provided by Wikipedia