Photo courtesy of bbc.com
Possible Headlines: Protesters Around the Country in an Uproar after Decision in Ferguson; Ferguson Protesters around the Country; Countrywide Protests for Ferguson
When the grand jury released its decision electing not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown, chaos erupted in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, according to cnn.com. Following the chaos, people throughout the nation protested.
Within Ferguson, protesters did not stay peaceful for long. Businesses on West Florissant Avenue were set on fire on November 24 when the decision was announced. A nearby car lot joined the blaze, and vehicles and police cars set alight. According to cnn.com, the number of fires exceeded the ability of firefighters to reach them all.
Ferguson was not the only city full of people unhappy about the decision. Protests popped up across the United States, as well as demonstrations in England. From what can be seen of the many protests on cnn’s iReport of the event, where participants can post firsthand accounts and share stories of the protests in their areas, the vast majority are peaceful protests.
ABC News showed another protest, a nationwide walkout that took place on Monday. At 12:01 p.m., the same time Brown was shot, people across the United States put their hands up and walked out of work and school peacefully. The movement was largely organized over social media, #HandsUpWalkOut.
Several Rams football players also put their hands up to walk out of the tunnel at a game on Sunday, according to USA Today. They reported that although St. Louis police wanted the “inflammatory” actions condemned, on Monday the NFL released a statement that they would not discipline the players.
The head coach of the team was in agreement, telling USA Today that he was not a politician or an activist, but a football coach. USA Today also reported that the players did what they did to try to inspire more peaceful forms of protest than the initial violence that took place in Ferguson and other scattered incidents in the United States.
As protests continue across the nation, cnn.org reports that Michael Brown’s family asks that protests be kept peaceful, rather than allowing their son’s death inspire more violence.
Adria Riley
Adria Riley was born on July 11, 1995 and is from Syracuse, which is between Salt Lake and Ogden. She is a freshman here at Snow College and is planning on majoring in English. She isn’t sure if she wants to go into philosophies, journalism or English education. She decided to come to Snow College because she wanted to get out of her house out on her own, it’s cheap, she loves the atmosphere and because of it’s small size. Adria’s favorite color is black because it goes with everything. It creates contrast with brighter colors. In her spare time she likes to read, write, play the viola, sew and party. She enjoys hiking but does not like other physical activity. If Adria could go anywhere in the world she would want to visit all the temples, go to New Zealand to see the Lord of the Rings sites and she would also like to visit the sites where the Avengers movie was filmed. Her favorite quote is “Lock up your libraries if you like, but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own. Something unique about her is she is a quarter Nicaraguan.