In the 23 years that separates the Rodney King and Michael Brown incident, there are several similarities and few differences. Both individuals were harmed by the police in their neighborhood that were supposed to serve and protect them. Excessive force was used by both police forces and then justifications were made after each incident in an attempt to clear the police officers in question. Both incidents took place in public, in areas that were already suffering from discrimination, prejudice, and alienation from the police. Additionally, both individuals had previous criminal backgrounds, giving the police cause to believe that these individuals were “up to no good”. More importantly, both cases ended in rioting and protest that seemed to
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The destruction of private property was much the same as it had been in Los Angeles, only to a much lesser extent; it still included burnt building, burnt vehicles, and looting. However, the police acted in a more appropriate manner, they formed riot lines and did not engage in the use of physical force. President Obama addressed the community of Ferguson, and asked that they cease and assist all violent behaviors, even the parents of Michael Brown plead with the neighborhood to stop the violent behaviors. In this incident, regardless of the unnecessary actions of the police and the death of Michael Brown, not everyone in the community was interested in a violent riot. Most people did not believe that the negative behaviors of others would enact change in their …show more content…
Initially, the media took two different stances; one that Ferguson, Missouri was a community plagued with criminals and miscreants and the other where the community members in Ferguson were discriminated against and suffered police brutality. There were also several misconceptions regarding the shooting of Michael Brown, did he or did he not have a gun. The largest misconception was in the way that the media portrayed the victim, Michael Brown. On one hand, he was a nice, gentle giant, high school graduate, that had his entire life ahead of him, and the other hand, he was this violent dangerous criminal that deserved to be gunned down in the street.
An article in USA today, titled Ferguson shooting: Myths vs. facts explored all of the common misconceptions of the incident to include autopsy results, whether the grand jury will choose to continue with the case or not, the entire reason for Michael Brown being stopped that night, and the huge misconception is that the entire city was rioting (Yamiche, 2014).
It was actually only a small portion of the city that was rioting and the rest of the city was peaceful. These misperceptions were perpetuated by the media to add fuel to an already dangerous
The destruction of private property was much the same as it had been in Los Angeles, only to a much lesser extent; it still included burnt building, burnt vehicles, and looting. However, the police acted in a more appropriate manner, they formed riot lines and did not engage in the use of physical force. President Obama addressed the community of Ferguson, and asked that they cease and assist all violent behaviors, even the parents of Michael Brown plead with the neighborhood to stop the violent behaviors. In this incident, regardless of the unnecessary actions of the police and the death of Michael Brown, not everyone in the community was interested in a violent riot. Most people did not believe that the negative behaviors of others would enact change in their …show more content…
Initially, the media took two different stances; one that Ferguson, Missouri was a community plagued with criminals and miscreants and the other where the community members in Ferguson were discriminated against and suffered police brutality. There were also several misconceptions regarding the shooting of Michael Brown, did he or did he not have a gun. The largest misconception was in the way that the media portrayed the victim, Michael Brown. On one hand, he was a nice, gentle giant, high school graduate, that had his entire life ahead of him, and the other hand, he was this violent dangerous criminal that deserved to be gunned down in the street.
An article in USA today, titled Ferguson shooting: Myths vs. facts explored all of the common misconceptions of the incident to include autopsy results, whether the grand jury will choose to continue with the case or not, the entire reason for Michael Brown being stopped that night, and the huge misconception is that the entire city was rioting (Yamiche, 2014).
It was actually only a small portion of the city that was rioting and the rest of the city was peaceful. These misperceptions were perpetuated by the media to add fuel to an already dangerous