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WASHINGTON -- One of the witnesses to the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown admitted to holding racist views about African-Americans in a journal entry written on the same day of the shooting, according to documents released by St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch's office Monday.
On Aug. 9, the day Brown was shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, the witness wrote in his or her journal: "Well I'm gonna take my random drive to Florissant. Need to understand the Black race better so I stop calling Blacks Niggers and Start calling them People."
On Monday night, McCulloch announced that a grand jury would not indict Wilson in the killing, arguing in a long, defensive opening statement that the shooting could be ruled justified because witnesses claimed that Brown had made movements toward the officer before the fatal shots were fired. The press conference set off another round of protests in Ferguson and across the country.
In a subsequent entry that same day following the shooting, the same witness wrote in his or her journal about seeing the shooting incident: "The cop got out left hand on face Right hand on gun. The Cop Screamed but I could not understand. Everyone was Screaming ... The big kid turned around had his arms out with attitude. The cop just stood there dang if that kid didn't start running right at the cop like a foot ball player Head down. I heard 3 bangs but the big kid wouldn't Stop ... Cop took a couple steps forward then backwards and the gun went off 2 more times. The last one on the top of the kids head. OMG the blood."
Notably, McCulloch said at his press conference Monday night that all of the witnesses who said they saw Brown charge at Wilson were black. That seems undercut by the diary.
"All the ones that I mentioned specifically were all African-Americans, were the ones who came at him in a full charge," he said in response to a question about the race of the witnesses saying that Brown had charged. "So the others who had very consistent stories -- not just with each other, not just their stories or their testimony throughout -- but they were consistent with the others, several others. They're all African-American."
This post has been updated with a quote from McCulloch's press conference.
Follow HuffPost's liveblog below for more Ferguson updates
Reuters reports:
he white police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, this summer, resigned from the force without any severance deal, the mayor of the St. Louis suburb said on Sunday.
The officer, Darren Wilson, announced his resignation late Saturday, saying he feared for his own safety and that of his fellow police officers after a grand jury decided not to indict him in the fatal Aug. 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
PORTLAND, Ore (AP) — Authorities say 10 people have been arrested in Portland during a protest related to the Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting.
The city police bureau says the arrests came Saturday night "after a large group of protesters laid down in the street and refused lawful orders to clear the roadway."
Earlier, the gathering over the Missouri shooting death of a black man by a white police officer included a speech by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
The Oregonian reports that Jackson urged nonviolence and said the resignation of the officer was "a step in the right direction," but that much remained to be done to achieve justice for the victim.
Police say that after Jackson left, some protesters marched around downtown and sporadically disrupted traffic.
Officials say some bottles were thrown at officers and a police car was damaged.
The nine adults and one juvenile arrested will face charges that include disorderly conduct.
Flag burning right now in #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/gbILZA4mU0
— Nicholas J.C. Pistor (@nickpistor) November 30, 2014
Very large police and national guard contingent present. Outnumbers protesters at moment. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/VHwMQ7GRbg
— Nicholas J.C. Pistor (@nickpistor) November 30, 2014
Protest building in size and volume in #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/lDyHxsPaOk
— Nicholas J.C. Pistor (@nickpistor) November 30, 2014
The NYT reports that armed members of the group "Oath Keepers" are in Ferguson to offer their help protecting businesses from damage.
From the NYT:
The volunteers, who are sometimes described as a citizen militia — but do not describe themselves that way — have taken up armed positions on rooftops here on recent nights....
But on Saturday, with the county police said to be threatening the Oath Keepers with arrest, the volunteers decided to abandon their posts and instead protest against the authorities. Late in the day on Saturday, a protest was being planned for that night.
Read more here.
Darren Wilson has resigned from Ferguson police department.
Read his resignation letter below, via St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
"I, Darren Wilson, hereby resign my commission as a police officer with the City of Ferguson effective immediately. I have been told that my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that I cannot allow. For obvious reasons, I wanted to wait until the grand jury made their decision before I officially made my decision to resign. It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me. It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal. I would like to thank all of my supporters and fellow officers throughout this process."
The group that's out painting right now also did this mural. It's a block or so from the Ferguson PD pic.twitter.com/tqgIUhR8C0
— Jim Dalrymple II (@JimDalrympleII) November 27, 2014
Unrest following the Ferguson grand jury's decision to not indict police officer Darren Wilson has hit the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Using #StopTheParade as a rallying cry, protesters attempted to disrupt the annual parade in New York City. According to Mashable, police arrested some of the demonstrators just as the parade kicked off.
At least 7 confirmed #FergusonDecision #StopTheParade protesters arrested in #NYC pic.twitter.com/YScb7dmViL
— Shevaun Bryan (@finessebryan) November 27, 2014
Protestors chanting "hands up, don't shoot!" at the #stoptheparade march @nypmetro pic.twitter.com/kN4vxo9Bu9
— Natalie Musumeci (@natmusumeci) November 27, 2014
--Mollie Reilly
MSNBC's Steve Kornacki reports on Ferguson's public library, which has remained open throughout the protests.
Over 50 volunteers helped staff the library, which provided free lunches to children as schools remained closed. The library also offered help to businesses who suffered damage during the protests following the grand jury's decision.
"We have a dramatic setting right now but it is not different than what libraries do every day," library director Scott Bonner said.
--Mollie Reilly
The Associated Press reports:
As demonstrations in California heated up overnight, the robust protests in Ferguson dwindled in size and severity as Thanksgiving approached, a change from the days immediately following the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case.
People have begun cleaning up the battered suburban community of Ferguson and seeking something closer to normal. Meanwhile, a group gathered in downtown St. Louis on Thursday morning for what the organizer called a "pro-community" car cruise.
Organizer Paul Byrd said the cruise — which consisted of a few vehicles, mostly pickup trucks — was meant to be peaceful and to counteract the violence seen earlier this week in Ferguson after Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted in the fatal August shooting of 18-year-old Brown, who was black and unarmed.
The Associated Press reports:
Police in Oakland and Los Angeles arrested scores of demonstrators during a third night of unrest linked to the shooting protest in Ferguson, Missouri.
At least 130 demonstrators who refused to disperse during a Los Angeles protest were arrested Wednesday night, while 35 people were detained in Oakland following a march that deteriorated into unrest and vandalism, according to police officials.
About 200 or 300 largely peaceful demonstrators crisscrossed the streets of downtown Los Angeles for several hours in the afternoon and evening over a decision not to bring criminal charges against a Ferguson policeman for killing a black man.
More than 60 protesters arrested tonight in downtown L.A. LAPD won't specify exact numbers at this time. People still being "processed."
— Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) November 27, 2014
More than 60 protesters arrested tonight in downtown L.A. LAPD won't specify exact numbers at this time. People still being "processed."
— Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) November 27, 2014
Police grab one man in Oakland. More windows broken, graffiti on Grand #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/OhzJqFYPTF
— Vivian Ho (@VivianHo) November 27, 2014
WATCH LIVE: #FergusonOakland protesters have vandalized a building at W. Grand and San Pablo. http://t.co/qzMZSs4OWc pic.twitter.com/7uFB2aIAYg
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsBayArea) November 27, 2014
Rock vs. window at AM/PM at Market and W. Grand. Many in the march visibly upset at first signs of unrest. #OAK2STL pic.twitter.com/xwrz4X5gqY
— Kale Williams (@sfkale) November 27, 2014
Police grab one man in Oakland. More windows broken, graffiti on Grand #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/OhzJqFYPTF
— Vivian Ho (@VivianHo) November 27, 2014
Pushing and shoving between LAPD and #Ferguson protesters in downtown L.A. Things getting tense. @KTLA pic.twitter.com/56ym60Llhi
— Steve Kuzj (@SteveKuzj) November 27, 2014
BREAKING: Group of more than 60 protesters ordered to disperse - they didn't. Police say there are endangering public. All will be arrested
— Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) November 27, 2014
LAPD arresting protesters in downtown. “They are all under arrest now,” officer says. Live: http://t.co/ZFpMavhyd9 pic.twitter.com/x9NVITd9Kw
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) November 27, 2014
Protesters in downtown L.A. arrested one-by-one. pic.twitter.com/HjrpjIIUn8
— Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) November 27, 2014
Protest beginning on the Galleria Mall. https://t.co/LfHVo9h0Or
— Jim Dalrymple II (@JimDalrympleII) November 27, 2014
BREAKING: Protesters chant near center court of Galleria mall. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/S8zMPHzUbZ
— Michael Calhoun (@michaelcalhoun) November 27, 2014
In the mall. https://t.co/AY1Ini1ac9
— Jim Dalrymple II (@JimDalrympleII) November 27, 2014
#BREAKING: A small group is gathering to pray in protest of the #FergusonDecision. Watch live: http://t.co/RjoW5zuMGY pic.twitter.com/HGU6tj7xqo
— 11Alive News (@11AliveNews) November 27, 2014
Hudson Harris with his 2 yr old bought coffee for police: "I wanted to show my son how cops should be treated." #Shaw pic.twitter.com/qlylanT5BX
— Lisa Brown (@LisaBrownSTL) November 27, 2014
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:
Two men indicted last week on federal weapons charges allegedly had plans to bomb the Gateway Arch — and to kill St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch and Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson — the Post-Dispatch has learned.
Sources close to the investigation were uncertain whether the men had the capability to carry out the plans, although the two allegedly did purchase what they thought was a pipe bomb in an undercover law enforcement sting.
Read more at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Hands up, don't shoot." #losangeles #ferguson https://t.co/6gOM4nLjfE
— Tre'vell Anderson (@TrevellAnderson) November 27, 2014
#Ferguson protesters lie down in street at Cesar Chavez / Alameda, downtown LA http://t.co/Hg4O2cGfAc pic.twitter.com/6mzhM6mU4P
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) November 27, 2014
Group lying for 4 1/2 minutes at Chavez and Alameda. pic.twitter.com/bZUbzURIzt
— Tre'vell Anderson (@TrevellAnderson) November 27, 2014
Inmates at L.A. jail have gone to the windows and are cheering on the protesters as they pass by. #Fergsuon pic.twitter.com/NAHFjzDP10
— Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) November 27, 2014
Trying to clock total. Police helicopters have spotlights on the group #Fergsuon pic.twitter.com/EKhJ1sb0YT
— Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) November 27, 2014
#Snow falling hard & fast in #Ferguson. National Guard unmoved at PD. Protestors dwindling to about 15 people pic.twitter.com/s3BGPoiH0h
— Sara Sidner (@sarasidnerCNN) November 27, 2014
"We are going to be peacefully disruptive" https://t.co/iGksoqIEAD
— Jim Dalrymple II (@JimDalrympleII) November 27, 2014
St. Louis County police were searching for an AR-15 assault weapon stolen from a police car that was set on fire during protests Monday in Ferguson, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Police were still trying to locate the rifle on Wednesday night, Sgt. Brian Schellman said.
Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who has been on leave since fatally shooting unarmed teen Michael Brown in August, will not return to his position or to police work, his lawyer told The Washington Post.
"At first [his thinking] was, 'I want to go back, I’m a cop, I want to still be a cop,'" Wilson's lawyer, Danielle Thompson, said. “It took some time for him to realize that wasn’t exactly going to be what happened."
The Ferguson Police Department has not announced whether Wilson would continue to work for the force. CNN reported last week that Wilson was in talks to resign.
HuffPost UK's Paul Vale reports that approximately 1,000 Ferguson demonstrators swarmed the streets in London, holding signs echoing those seen in U.S. protesting the grand jury decision to not indict Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson in the killing of Michael Brown.
-- Andrew Hart
HuffPost's Ryan J. Reilly reports:
Outside, three women were painting the wooden boards placed over windows that had been smashed after the grand jury announcement on Monday evening.
Mel Smith, a 32-year-old resident of nearby Clayton who serves as pastor of Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church, said that she came to help out and that the coffee shop had provided the paint to decorate the boards. The women searched Google for phrases about hope and settled on this one from former South African archbishop Desmond Tutu: “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”
“As dark as it might look, as hard as it is, that’s not all there will be,” Smith said. Despite all of the destruction, she said, there can still be productive discussions about the relationship between law enforcement and the community.
“I think, if anything, more and more people are willing to talk,” Smith said. “I think that this is opening conversation and not shutting it down. I’m actually more hopeful.”
HuffPost’s Rebecca Klein reports:
The day after a grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown, Minnesota high school teacher Tom Rademacher expected to "check in with kids at least a little bit about their reactions."
However, when he arrived in school Tuesday of this week, he found the events in Ferguson, Missouri, were the only topic students wanted to talk about.
"In every class it became a really extensive thing, and took up the whole hour every hour all day long," Rademacher, who was previously named the 2014 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, told The Huffington Post.
Read more here.
HuffPost's Kate Abbey-Lambertz, Christopher Mathias, Michael McLaughlin and Lydia O'Connor report:
Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri came as no shock to the hundreds of Americans of color who have lost loved ones in officer-involved shootings. Below, some of these people discuss their experiences and share their thoughts on the grand jury's decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who fatally shot an unarmed Brown this summer.
Read more here.
HuffPost's Lilly Workneh reports:
On Monday and Tuesday nights, protests (again, some violent) drew heavy media attention, leaving no escape from the reality of more racially charged conflict around a young man’s death.
Here are a few numbers, some that might have foreshadowed the latest protests while others show the power of people's despair:
The number of days that protesters have demonstrated in the St. Louis area since Brown's death. 110
HuffPost's Sam Stein reports:
Brooke Jones kept her kid out of school Tuesday. The news coming out of Ferguson, Missouri, was too important. A better lesson, she thought, would be for her daughter, January, to absorb the moment. So instead of class, the two talked about how a police officer who had shot and killed an 18-year-old unarmed boy wasn’t going to be punished.
Jones, 27, hadn’t broached the topic with her daughter until that day, even though the shooting took place back in August. January is only 5. And Jones wasn't sure whether she could possibly understand the magnitude of what had happened.
But as they talked, “her eyes glossed over,” Jones said. “She didn’t cry. But she was quiet for a few minutes.”
It was at once gratifying and saddening for Jones to know her daughter was envisioning officer Darren Wilson and Michael Brown. “I felt like I needed to explain it to her. And she gets it.”
The upcoming issue of the New Yorker has a devastating cover on Ferguson, showing the iconic St. Louis Gateway Arch broken in the middle and split into black and white. Bob Staake, the artist, explained his image:
I wanted to comment on the tragic rift that we’re witnessing. I lived in St. Louis for seventeen years before moving to Massachusetts, so watching the news right now breaks my heart. At first glance, one might see a representation of the Gateway Arch as split and divided, but my hope is that the events in Ferguson will provide a bridge and an opportunity for the city, and also for the country, to learn and come together.
View Staake's cover here.
-- Amanda Terkel