FBI probes police shooting of unarmed teen

World Today

People are demanding answers after an encounter between a white police officer and an unarmed black teenager ended in the teen’s death in the U.S. state of Missouri.

FBI probes police shooting of unarmed teen

People are demanding answers after an encounter between a white police officer and an unarmed black teenager ended in the teen's death in the U.S. state of Missouri.

U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager. The incident took place in Ferguson, Missouri last Saturday. Witnesses say 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed with his hands in the air.

A vigil for the teenager turned violent on Sunday night as more than 30 people were arrested for vandalism and looting in Ferguson. The situation became so unstable that at one point police used tear gas for crowd control, according to the Associated Press. More than 200 police officers were called in from surrounding areas to assist.

During a Sunday press conference, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said Brown and another person attacked the police officer on Saturday afternoon in front of an apartment building in Ferguson. Belmar also said one of the two men reached for the police officer’s gun as he was being put in the car. A short fight ensued and Brown started to run. Belmar said the officer fired his gun, hitting Brown, about 35 feet from the car. But witnesses maintain that Brown, who was scheduled to begin classes at a local college on Monday, was trying to surrender.

The family has hired high-profile Florida attorney Benjamin Crump, the lawyer on the Trayvon Martin case. The 17-year-old African American was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida in February 2012.

Tensions between African-Americans and police is nothing new in the United States. Is anything making it better or is it getting worse? CCTV America spoke to Nsenga Burton, founder and editor in chief of The Burton Wire, a news site covering the African Diaspora.  She’s also chair of the Communication and Media Studies department at Goucher College in Maryland.

Police shooting of unarmed teen enflames racial tensions

CCTV America spoke to Nsenga Burton, founder and editor in chief of The Burton Wire, a news site covering the African Diaspora. She's also chair of the Communication and Media Studies department at Goucher College in Maryland.