FERGUSON — The memorial at Canfield Drive in Ferguson, Missouri, that marked the spot where Michael Brown lay after being shot by a police officer last summer was cleared out Wednesday.
The site was filled with flowers, teddy bears, letters, hats, candles, etc.
Brown’s father joined Mayor Knowles at a press conference earlier in the day at the Ferguson Community Center to essentially give his blessings for the removal.
A permenant plaque (seen above) is to be installed.
The shooting of Michael Brown occurred on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, 28, a white Ferguson police officer. The disputed circumstances of the shooting and the resultant riots, protests and civil unrest received considerable attention in the U.S. and abroad, and sparked a vigorous debate about law enforcement’s relationship with African Americans, and police use of force doctrine in Missouri and nationwide.
Shortly before the shooting, Brown stole several packages of cigarillos from a nearby convenience store and shoved the store clerk. Wilson had been notified by police dispatch of the robbery and the suspect’s description. He encountered Brown and Dorian Johnson as they were walking down the middle of the street. Although Wilson’s initial contact with Brown and Johnson was unrelated to the robbery, Wilson said that he recognized that the two men matched the robbery suspect descriptions. Wilson backed up his cruiser and blocked them. An altercation ensued with Brown and Wilson struggling through the window of the police vehicle until Wilson’s gun was fired. Brown and Johnson then fled, with Wilson in pursuit of Brown.
Brown stopped and turned to face the officer. The entire interaction eventually resulted in Officer Wilson firing at him several times, all striking him in the front. In the entire altercation, Wilson fired a total of twelve bullets; the last was probably the fatal shot. Brown was unarmed. Brown was moving toward Wilson when the final shots were fired. Witness reports differed as to what Brown was doing with his hands when he was shot, but no credible witness said that he had his hands up in surrender.
On November 24, 2014, it was announced that the St. Louis County grand jury had decided not to indict Wilson. On March 4, 2015, the U. S. Department of Justice cleared Wilson of civil rights violations in the shooting, finding that witnesses who corroborated his account were credible while those who incriminated him were not, and that according to the evidence, Wilson shot Michael Brown in self-defense.
Photo: @PDPJ/Twitter
