On August 9th, a black teenager named Michael Brown was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, MO.  There are many different views of what happened on that night.  One side claims that unarmed Brown had his hands in the air to surrender but the officer shot him several times anyways.  A witness (the friend that was with Brown) claimed that Michael Brown and him were walking down the middle of the road unarmed when a police officer confronted them and said to move.  They said they would move in a minute but then the police officer pulled Brown into his car through the window.  After they struggled, the police officer shot Brown.  Then, Brown put his hands in the air to surrender but the officer shot him several more times anyways.

Another side claimed that Brown attacked the officer in his car and tried to take his gun.  It was claimed that the officer only shot Brown for self-defense.  Social media is playing a huge part on how the public is forming opinions about the case.  A new hashtag is circling around sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter called #iftheygunnedmedown. People are using this hashtag to gain support for Brown after media created a negative image of him to change people’s opinions about the case.

I believe that Michael Brown was innocent.  I believe this because there were many witnesses that said he put his hands up in surrender and also everyone interviewed that knew him said that he was a “gentle giant” and a good kid.  Also, I believe this because there were several cases before him where a white police officer killed a black man that was giving no harm.

~Courtney