Urban uprising after an 18 year old teenager was shot

Two residents and 2 police officers were injured in a riot which occurred in Ferguson Saint Louis.

According to Brian Schellman with the St. Louis County Police Department, 300 police officers from at least 15 different departments were called to Ferguson when angry mobs began smashing windows, setting fires and looting businesses in the area.

The riots occurred after the police shot and killed an unarmed teenager named Michael Brown on Saturday. According to witnesses, the teenager got into an altercation with the police while walking to his parent’s house. The witnesses claim that the teenager were walking away from the police after the altercation with his hands up and the police shot 8 times killing the teenager.

Two riots have occurred since the killing of the teenage. On Monday the police claim that several people at the rally started looting stores, smashing windows and firing at the police. On Tuesday, 8/11/2014, the disturbances occurred for a second night. The area where the shooting occurred was in a predominately black and Latino area.

In Ferguson where the riots occurred, 52 police officers are White and two are Black with one other minority. The mayor of the city is White; out of 12 county representatives only one is black and the community has a 20% unemployment rate.

According to Rachel on the Rachel Maddox Show 8/12/2014, A police whistleblower claim that the lieutenant on the force talked openly about profiling blacks in the stores and the community. The racist officer was removed after and investigation. During the riot, one person heard one of the police saying “bring it”, “bring it.”

The social dimensions which exist in Ferguson Saint Louis are the same conditions which fueled the riots in the 1960’s. Until this country is willing to address the hopefulness and despair which results from unemployment, racial profiling and trigger happy police, urban uprisings will again re-visit our cities. If you want to read more, click the link below.