page_title: Ferguson unrest
section_title: Events
hierarchical_section_title: Ferguson unrest / Events
caption_attribution_description: English: Fence erected around gas station.
context_page_description: The Ferguson unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, involved protests and riots beginning on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson. The unrest sparked a vigorous debate in the United States about the relationship between law enforcement officers and African Americans, the militarization of police, and the use-of-force law in Missouri and nationwide. Continued activism expanded the issues to include modern-day debtors prisons, for-profit policing, and school segregation.
  As the details of the original shooting emerged, police established curfews and deployed riot squads to maintain order. Along with peaceful protests, there was significant looting and violent unrest in the vicinity of the original shooting, as well as across the city. There was also significant media criticism of the militarization of the police when dealing with violent protests in Ferguson. The unrest continued on November 24, 2014, after a grand jury did not indict Officer Wilson. It briefly continued again on the one-year anniversary of Brown's shooting. The Department of Justice concluded Wilson shot Brown in self-defense.
caption: The looted, burned-out QuikTrip gas station in Ferguson
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