From all the chaos in Ferguson, there was a silence of violence until now. Outside of the Ferguson Missouri Police Department, 31 people were arrested for injuring four officers. Following this, eight more people were arrested for throwing rocks and bottles at officers during a protest. The day before this incident, a cop was shot by an unidentified suspect. Last month, 18-year-old Michael Brown was also shot and killed by officer, Darren Wilson. This event is what triggered the initial outbreak of rage from the public. Many gathered to walk for the justice of Brown and built memorials in his honor throughout Ferguson. As the events slowly simmered down, protests began to decrease and fade. A memorial for Brown was burned last week which resulted in a new cycle of conflict to Ferguson. Brown’s case has been deeply analyzed and due to a recent Twitter post, there has been accusations of misconduct against the grand jury.

“The matter has been referred to the prosecuting attorney for investigation… The court will hear the matter and take appropriate action, if the prosecutor finds cause to believe misconduct has occurred,” a St. Louis Country Clerk reportedly told CNN.

A specific twitter post recently surfaced catching the eye of the public. The twitter post concerned the case of Brown and the potential charges against Wilson for his actions. There was also a post centered on the fact there was a juror discussing the details of the case with a friend who later posted a Tweet saying “the grand jury has not heard enough evidence to charge Wilson of the murder.” Within minutes, the person who posted this tweet was advised to delete it. Luckily, someone was able to screen shot it before it was taken down. Federal officials have begun investigations not only surrounding the murder of Brown, but also Ferguson’s record with minorities in the past. The U.S Justice Department has also announced a second analysis for accusations against the Police department as a whole for the practices of racial hostility.

Ferguson’s Chief Police Officer, Thomas Jackson, told CNN reporters, “It’s never been the intention of the Ferguson Police Department—or any police department that I know—to intentionally target individuals because of race, If there is that happening, it’s a crime and it needs to be addressed.” Jackson has already apologized for the actions of Officer Wilson and even released an apology video for Brown’s family and the locals who have been protesting Brown’s death.

From the beginning, locals have been outraged by the police injustices and have carried out protests that have gained the attention of the nation. Many peaceful protesters have begun to turn tables and become violent towards police officials. Reportedly, two officers were struck by rocks during a protest and injured as a result of it. While many are keeping their boundaries, some have begun to become out of hand and attempt to fight against the authority figures. Not only are there physical attacks on people, but many architectural sites and buildings in Ferguson have been destroyed and vandalized.

“One person threw a Molotov cocktail at a parking structure, and there was an attempt to set a gasoline fire at a custard shop,” Jackson commented. The protests have become an uprising in Ferguson and it will take a drastic change to simmer the locals back down to a non-violent state.

Jackson has made efforts to personally connect and express his forgiveness to the people of Ferguson and in the past has even gone out to the daily protests to reach out to the community. Not only has this made an impact on the local people, but Jackson has been faced with a conflict involving his job. At one of his appearances, not everyone was enlightened to see him especially one man in the crowd. He began to make comments saying” if you’re not going to resign, go home” since then Jackson is still the chief officer and continues to run his office the best he can with all of the rising conflict. The Mayor of Ferguson, James Knowles, believes the best way to move forward and grow as a community is to keep the strong people at the top, referring to Jackson.

“We’re moving forward as a community. If we change up now, I don’t know that that is going to help us down the road” Knowles told CNN reporters. Ferguson is one of few cities that has caught national attention in the specific way that it has. People are not only voicing their opinions, but their actions are showing exactly how they feel about all of the past and present news that have erupted. The City Council has recently began to take measures into their own hands and rearrange the procedures the city takes for specific issues. Ferguson’s unpredictable future lies ahead and only the people know what is coming next.

FSA Connection Questions

1. Throughout the article, the author uses words such as chaos to describe the outbursts in Ferguson, what details support this conclusion?
2. In your own words, summarize the main idea of the story.
3. Select two or more sentences supporting the main idea you chose about the article.
4. What is the connotation of the word chaos, in the story?
5. Position yourself as an official in Ferguson, what actions would you take to attempt to submerse the violence.