By Rob Crilly
Ferguson, Missouri: Photographs have emerged of the moment a black teenager was shot dead by police in America, just as protests turned violent once again in the small Missouri suburb of Ferguson.
The events last weekend were apparently “live tweeted” by a rapper living beside the spot where Michael Brown, 18, died.
The mostly black neighbourhood has been rocked by protests ever since, threatening to ignite a race war, as locals demand to know how an unarmed man could be shot dead in broad daylight as he apparently tried to surrender to police.
Officers have been widely condemned for being out of touch and for using excessive force against the demonstrators. They have also come under fire for claiming that Brown was stopped because he was a suspect in a robbery - only to backtrack hours later when it emerged the officer involved did not know of his alleged crime.
Helen Shaw talks to people during a rally outside Greater Grace Church in Ferguson.Credit: AP
Using the street slang of rap culture, Emanuel Freeman, who goes by the Twitter label of @TheePharaoh, gave a blow by blow account of what unfolded last Saturday at about midday.
His first tweet said: “I JUST SAW SOMEONE DIE OMFG.”
He then posted a photograph of a man lying face down in the street outside his house.
To a friend, he said: “The police just shot someone dead in front of my crib yo.”
There was a report of a robbery of cigars in a convenience store in the area a few minutes before Michael Brown was shot dead.Credit: Reuters
An angry crowd soon gathered in the street.
“Its blood all over the street, n----s protesting nshit. There is police tape all over my building. I am stuck in here omg,” he wrote.
TheePharoah then went on to answer questions from other Twitter users, saying that he thought the man was shot seven times - twice from behind, and then five further shots as the victim turned to face police.
More photographs follow, including a police officer with a rifle in his hand.
The killing has sent shockwaves across America, igniting protests in 60 other cities. Civil rights campaigners compare the death with the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager killed by a neighbourhood watch organiser who was later acquitted of murder in a racially charged case.
The local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan has reportedly begun raising money as a “reward” for the officer involved.
But for many, the case highlights the gulf between communities and the officers who police them.
In Ferguson, a down-at-heel neighbourhood of strip malls, a local force of 53 officers has just three black members for an area that is two-thirds African-American.
Five years ago, police there charged a black man with property damage for bleeding on four uniforms as officers allegedly beat him.
And this week’s disturbing scenes of officers with armoured vehicles has raised questions about whether America has allowed its police to morph into a paramilitary force.
Barack Obama interrupted his summer holiday to condemn the police’s heavy handed approach, arresting journalists and denying peaceful protesters their right to express themselves.
Details of the killing remain contested.
Police say Brown was shot dead after a scuffle with officers that left one policeman with a swollen face.
On Friday, they released video footage showing Brown and a friend apparently stealing a $US49 box of cigars from a convenience store. The pictures show Brown pushing a member of staff into a display stand.
In American police jargon it was described as a “strong arm” robbery - one that did not involve a weapon.
That was why, according to the official version of events released on Friday morning, Brown and his friend had been stopped in the street.
However, the revelations added fuel to an already combustible situation.
Locals accused police of trying to shift attention from the killing and of concocting a cover story.
Benjamin Crump, a lawyer for the Brown family, said it amounted to a character assassination.
A statement released by the Brown family said: “There is nothing based on the facts that have been placed before us that can justify the execution-style murder of their child by this police officer as he held his hands up, which is the universal sign of surrender.”
Even then the police were forced to change their story later in the day.
Thomas Jackson, the chief of Ferguson police, was forced to admit that the officer responsible for the shooting, named as Darren Wilson, had not known Brown was a suspect in the robbery. Instead, he had asked Brown not to walk in the middle of the street so a police car could pass.
After 24 hours of calm on Thursday, when state police were given responsibility for calming the protests, the result was inevitable.
Protesters gathered outside a looted QuikTrip store - focal point for anger in four of five previous nights.
Al Aitkins, a crane operator, said the accusations would inflame simmering anger.
“It will make things worse,” he said. “They may try to shift the blame but we will carry on demanding justice for Mike.”
The evening started peacefully. Dancers and drummer created a carnival spirit despite steady drizzle.
Witnesses said the atmosphere changed at midnight, when dozens of protesters confronted police, shouting abuse. A hard core threw bottles which were met with a single teargas round, sparking an attack on the Ferguson Market and Liquor store, the scene of Brown’s alleged robbery.
TV pictures showed masked looters emerging with bottles of wine and even the cash register.
Police stayed away, and trouble died down as other protesters formed human barriers in front of shops to keep looters at bay.
It left the black officer drafted in to restore calm at the end of the week exasperated.
Captain Ron Johnson, of Missouri Highway Patrol, who has won praise for his sensitive handling of the protests, told a local television station he had spent all day trying to ease concerns after local police released the video.
“We had concerns that this would happen,” he said.
Telegraph, UK