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new-logo25Cassandra Anderson

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The police shooting death of Michael Brown on August 9th caused rioting, vandalism and a man with a handgun was shot by police.

There have also been peaceful protests.

Here is a list of facts in this case that is stirring up controversy over race, police excessive force and discrimination, the militarization of civilian law enforcement and race baiting. As always, there are at least two points of view in any conflict. Here’s a round-up of the most important aspects of the case:

1. Ferguson, Missouri is a suburb of St. Louis that has 21,000 residents, with a 67% African American population, while Missouri has a Black population of 11% statewide. There have been criticisms of under-representation of Black officers in Ferguson’s police department as there are 50 White officers and only 3 Black officers. In 2013, the attorney general’s office reported that Black drivers in Ferguson were about twice as likely to be arrested after police stops than Whites. More