Podcast Script

Michael Brown was an 18-year-old high school graduate visiting his

grandmother. He was scheduled to start college in two days. Unfortunately for him,
he would be shot and killed while on his way home from the store- for jaywalking.
Darren Wilson had previously been fired from another police department for
misconduct. Although in Ferguson, the city where he worked, 67% of the population
was black, only 3 police officers were. 93% of the arrests were made against black
people. It has been noted that there was a disproportionally large police force for a
fairly small, tight-knit community.
Brown had been at a convenience store with his friend, Dorian, and was
crossing the street near an apartment complex to get home. Wilson pulled over and
beckoned Brown over to the car- according to police reports, to reprimand him for
not using a crosswalk. When Brown came to the car, Wilson decided that the honour
student was a threat. He tried to get out of his car at the door bumped into Brown,
which according to Dorian, angered the officer. Wilson drew his gun and shot Brown
while trying to pull him into the car. Brown and Dorian started to run away, but
Wilson continued to shoot. Brown turned around with his hands up, said Dont
shoot! and knelt down on the ground. Wilson then proceeded to shoot Brown a
total of six times in the chest and head. He bled out and died on the street corner.
The police have changed their story a number of times. Initially, they said
Brown was a suspect in a robbery (read: someone had stolen some cigars from
the convenience store.) When it was reveled that Wilson didnt even know anything
had been stolen and thus it was impossible for Brown to be a suspect, they claimed
that Wilson had been attacked- although all eye witnesses reported it was the other
way around. Theyve put Wilson on a paid leave and when a memorial to Brown was
set on fire, they simply stood and watched.
Naturally, protests against police brutality and the murder of Michael Brown
sprang up shortly after the incident. Although the protests were peaceful, police
reacted with military tactics, spraying crowds some of which had children in themwith tear gas, a weapon outlawed in war. Rubber bullets (metal bullets with a
rubber covering, which are capable of being lethal) were also fired at random.
Sound canons, pepper spray, sniper rifles, and tanks were among the weapons the
police decided they needed to use. Keep in mind that the protests were, for the
most part, completely peaceful. A few people did take advantage of the situation
and looted, but these people have been shunned by the legitimate activists.
So, to recount the facts:

A police officer in America can shoot an unarmed teenager with no

negative repercussions

Police in America may use such violent crowd control tactics that
officials in North Korea condemned them

A memorial for a dead kid can be burned down and the police,
apparently, dont have to do anything

Obviously, theres something deeply wrong in this situation. Police brutality

has gone on for too long with too few consequences for the officers involved. The
American police system follows a different code of conduct for officers than the
Canadian one. Its shifted from serve and protect to everyone is the enemy.
Thus, police are to view every single person they come across as a potential threat.
When youre pulled over for speeding, the police officer approaches you with his
hand on his Hollister, ready to shoot if you make a wrong move.
And they wonder why people react badly to this.
We can all work together to stop police brutality from progressing further. You
can research and know your rights. For example, many people dont know that its
perfectly legal for you to video tape an officer at any time while theyre on duty. You
are also allowed to refuse a search unless the officer has solid evidence that youve
done something wrong; in other words, they cannot search you on a hunch or
because you annoyed them.
If enough people know how to react to police officers stepping out of line,
then the problem of police brutality could be stopped once and for all. Hopefully, the
Mike Brown incident will be the last of its kind.