In light of the recent Ferguson protests, the KAIST Herald has decided to provide an overview of the Ferguson shooting, which spurred the protests, the protests themselves, and their implications regarding racism throughout the United States.

On August 9, Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager aged 18, was shot dead by Police Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, US. According to reports, Brown and his friend, Dorian Johnson, was walking down the middle of Canfield Drive when Officer Wilson stopped his police car to order both of them to the pavement. Then ensued a physical encounter between Brown and the officer through the open window of the vehicle. Though the witnesses provided sharply different accounts of the incident, most agreed that shots were fired while the officer was still in his vehicle. Eventually, Brown ran away, after which Wilson got out of his car and fired more shots, which proved to be fatal, at Brown.

There still remains dispute over Brown’s actions right before his death due to the lack of forensic evidence and contrasting witness accounts. Dorian Johnson, Brown’s friend who was with him during the shooting, said that Brown was shot once from behind as he was running away from Wilson and then turned to face the officer with his arms in the air. According to Johnson, despite Brown’s apparent act of surrender, the officer fired several more shots at Brown before he fell. Officer Wilson also offered his account of the incident, which differed from Johnson’s account on how the actual encounter began and Brown’s actions moments before his death. Wilson told investigators that as he tried to get out of his car he was pushed back in by Brown who also punched him in the face. Fearing for life, Wilson struggled with Brown over his gun, during which the firearm went off twice in the vehicle. According to the officer, after he had left his car and shot Brown from behind, Brown turned around and charged him in an aggressive manner. This prompted him to fire fatal shots at Brown in an alleged act of self-defense.

A private autopsy was performed on the corpse of Michael Brown at the request of his family. The autopsy was led by Dr. Michael M. Baden, former chief New York City medical examiner, who revealed that one bullet entered the top of Brown’s skull – the bullet that was likely to have been fatal. This suggests that Brown’s head was bent forward at the time of sustaining the bullet. Dr. Baden also said that Brown was also shot four times in the right arm, with all of the bullets fired into his front. When Brown fell to the ground, his body was approximately 153 feet east of the officer’s vehicle; Brown’s blood was found about 25 feet east of his body. Though some may choose to interpret this as evidence that backs up Wilson’s version of the incident - that Brown charged him after sustaining the initial shot - Dr. Baden explained that forensic evidence alone was not enough to fully rebuild the circumstances of the shooting.

The grand jury for the Michael Brown shooting was assembled back in August, composed of 6 white men, 3 white women, 1 black man and 2 black women. In many countries, the decision to indict a defendant belongs to a single judge who reviews the evidence put forth by the prosecutor. However in the United States, a grand jury of randomly chosen citizens who represent the community is often used to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to charge the defendant with the crime in question. Grand jury proceedings are usually held in private so as to encourage the jury to speak freely and/or to protect the defendant’s reputation in case the jury decides not to pursue prosecution.

The Missouri grand jury has been hearing evidence for the case since August 20. This jury was meeting more frequently than the average grand jury as jurors were asked to be co-investigators and consider all of the evidence possible, an approach that is often used in high-profile cases such as police shootings. The jury also decided on which crimes should the officer be charge with: first or second-degree murder or voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. 9 out of the 12 jury members would have had to say yes to indict Officer Wilson.

Eventually, the grand jury decided not to indict Wilson with the shooting of Michael Brown due to the lack of evidence, a decision that came to the utter dismay of the general public and gave rise to the sequence of protests throughout the country.