los angeles times

The fatal shooting of an unarmed African American teen in Ferguson, Mo. by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson Saturday, August 9, has given rise to an FBI civil rights investigation, protests and local rioting.

The cause of the altercation between Michael Brown, 18, and Wilson, whose identity wasn’t released for weeks after the incident, remains unclear as witnesses to the event tell one story and law enforcement another.

Dorian Johnson, 22, told CNN that he and Brown were walking to a family member’s home when police yelled at them to get out of the street. As the two explained that they were about to arrive at their destination, Wilson became angry, aggressively driving forward and hitting brown with the car door.

Then, Dorian said Wilson pulled Brown in by the neck toward the car and shot him.

Dorian and an injured Brown struggled to run away, but Brown was shot numerous times, forcing him to slow down as he held his hands above his head in surrender, begging Wilson to stop shooting.

Moments later, Dorian said Wilson fired another shot, killing Brown.

In contrast, Ferguson Police share a completely disparate report, claiming Brown attacked Wilson inside his vehicle, struggled for his weapon causing an initial shot to be fired inside the car.

Then, Ferguson police say Brown and Dorian ran from the scene, and Brown was shot and killed several feet away.

Wilson shot Brown a total of six times during the altercation. A privately conducted autopsy revealed that it was the sixth shot to the top of the head that killed Brown, and the St. Louis County medical examiner’s office confirmed that the cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head and chest, ABC News said.

Although the two stories remain divided, one factor that rings true among all accounts is that Brown was unarmed at the time of the incident. Belmar said that every bullet casing from the scene belonged to Wilson, CNN reports.

Since Brown’s death, tension has skyrocketed in the Ferguson area, a working class suburb of 21,000, where a history of distrust and conflict exists between residents who are predominantly black and a primarily white police force, CNN said.

The largest protests have been peaceful, according to the Los Angeles Times, where the slogan “Hands up, don’t shoot,” can be seen on posters and acted out by protesters, reminding those that Brown was unarmed and reportedly in a position of surrender when he was shot.

However, many protests have transformed into local riots throughout the weeks following Brown’s death.

Ferguson locals were upset that officials did not immediately reveal Wilson’s identity, the Alton Daily News reports. However, Wilson’s name was not disclosed at first because death threats were made to a misidentified officer from an incorrect rumor, the Los Angeles Times said.

St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch said that details about the case would not be released to the public as the investigation is still underway and authorities need witnesses to stay credible, the Los Angeles Times said.

Frustration due to lack of information surrounding the case has lead to the vandalization of local businesses which police reportedly have controlled using tear gas and rubber bullets to control the uproar and close off areas, ABC news said.

Riots continued in Ferguson on Tuesday, August 19, when police fatally shot a man who had charged officers with a knife. Others have been wounded and numerous arrests have been made.

In response to violent outbreaks, local authorities are urging protesters to rally peacefully during the day to avoid causing any more harm to an already shaken community.

President Obama has weighed in as well saying in a statement earlier in the week that the FBI, civil rights attorneys from the Justice Department and the St. Louis County Police Department are each currently investigating the Ferguson shooting, and they will continue to direct resources to the case as needed.

“I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding,” Obama said according to The Wire.

The St. Louis County prosecutor said that results from the shooting and whether or not Wilson will be indicted may take until October to decide, as a grand jury must carefully examine evidence from the case.

Brown was a recent high school graduate scheduled to begin college courses the following Monday, two days after he was killed. Friends called him “Big Mike,” and his mother Lesley McSpadden referred to her son as a “Gentle Giant.”

An experimental cocktail of drugs used in the lethal injection of Oklahoma’s first double execution in 80 years improperly killed one man sparking controversy nationwide.

Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner were both scheduled to be executed Tuesday, April 28, in an Oklahoma correctional center.

Lockett was first and was executed with a concoction of three drugs: midazolam to cause unconsciousness, vecuronium bromide to stop respiration and potassium chloride to stop the heart, the LA Times reports.

This mixture was injected into Lockett’s body and he appeared to be unconscious, but after several minutes passed, it was clear the injections weren’t having the anticipated effects. He began twitching and eventually seizing.

Lockett eventually died of a massive heart attack due to the explosion of a vein, USA Today said.

The botched execution is only part of the controversy at hand. The constitutional whirlwind taking place in Oklahoma is causing an even bigger uproar as the state Supreme Court reversed itself as a reaction to pressure from Oklahoma officials to proceed with the executions.

The Oklahoma state Supreme Court responded to a civil suit filed by Lockett and Warner requesting information on the lethal drugs to be used during the execution. Justices delayed the double execution in a 5-4 decision, putting into question the state’s injection secrecy law which allows state officials to keep basic information about the injections under wraps.

Soon after that decision was made, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin stated that she would not follow the Supreme Court’s orders and threatened to proceed with the state appellate court’s decision to carry on with the execution, according to the LA Times.

Republican state lawmaker, Rep. Mike Christian also refused to accept the state Supreme Court’s orders and introduced impeachment proceedings against each of the justices, The Week said.

Both officials believe that the Oklahoma Supreme Court overstepped its boundaries by delaying the case because of a state law that separates the duties of the two high courts.

The appellate court manages civil matters and the Supreme Court manages criminal matters, so Gov. Fallin and Rep. Christian do not believe the justices had a right to delay the execution, The Week said.

The Supreme Court reversed itself a day later stating that Lockett and Warner were given adequate information. The delay was removed, keeping the executions on-track with the April 28 date, the LA Times reports.

Since Lockett’s failed execution, Warner’s execution has been postponed for two weeks by Gov. Fallin who asked for a review of the state’s execution procedures to determine what exactly went wrong.

Questions about the constitutionality of the death penalty are rapidly surfacing.

Warner’s attorney, Madeline Cohen, spoke out against the continuance of the death penalty in Oklahoma until the procedures there, and in other states practicing the death penalty, become transparent.

“Tonight, in a climate of secrecy and political posturing, Oklahoma intends to kill two death row prisoners using an experimental new drug protocol, including a paralytic, making it impossible to know whether the executions will comport with the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual suffering,” she said before the execution, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Oklahoma isn’t the only state with lethal injection secrecy laws. Missouri and Louisiana do as well, resulting very little information on the execution procedure. Other states, like Georgia, are debating the constitutionality of introducing these secrecy laws.

The impact of this case is far reaching, as the nation is questioning the constitutionality of the death penalty altogether, the capability of prison authorities to administer lethal injections and whether or not these injections violate the 8th Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

For now, Gov. Fallin has not said if Warner’s two week period could be extended, so he and Cohen will wait for results of Lockett’s execution review and proceed from there.