Timeline of events in Ferguson, Missouri, after a police officer fatally shot Michael Brown
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — On Aug. 9, 2014, Michael Brown and a friend were walking in the middle of Canfield Drive, a two-lane street in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri, when a police officer drove by and told them to use the sidewalk.
After words were exchanged, the white officer confronted the 18-year-old Brown, who was Black. The situation escalated, with the officer and Brown scuffling. The officer shot and killed Brown, who was unarmed.
This story is part of an AP ongoing series exploring the impact, legacy and ripple effects of what is widely called the Ferguson uprising, which was sparked a decade ago after the fatal shooting of Brown.
Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the shooting that was a pivotal moment in the national Black Lives Matter movement, and helped spur a reckoning of how Black people in Ferguson and elsewhere in the St. Louis region were treated by police and the courts.
A timeline of key events that followed the shooting:
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AUG. 9, 2014: Brown’s bloodied body remains in the street for four hours in the summer heat. People in the neighborhood later lash out at police, saying they mistreated the body.
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AUG. 10, 2014: After a candlelight vigil, people protesting Brown’s death smash car windows and carry away armloads of food, alcohol and other stolen items from stores. Some protesters stand on police cars, taunting officers. A QuikTrip convenience store on West Florissant Avenue, just blocks from where Brown was shot, is ransacked and burned. Other businesses are damaged or destroyed. It’s the first of several nights of unrest. The protests help solidify the Black Lives Matter movement formed in the wake of the 2012 death of Black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida and the acquittal of the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot him.
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AUG. 11, 2014: The FBI opens an investigation into Brown’s death, and two men who said they saw the shooting tell reporters that Brown had his hands raised when the officer fired repeatedly. That night, police in riot gear fire tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse a crowd of protesters.
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AUG. 14, 2014: The Missouri State Highway Patrol takes control of security, relieving Ferguson and St. Louis County officers of their law enforcement authority after days of unrest. The shift in command comes after images from the protests show many officers equipped with military-style gear, including armored vehicles, body armor and assault rifles. In photos circulated online, officers are seen pointing their weapons at demonstrators.
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AUG. 15, 2014: Police identify the officer who shot Brown as Darren Wilson, who had been with the department since 2011. They also release surveillance video that shows Brown grabbing large amounts of cigarillos from behind the counter of the Ferguson Market and pushing a worker who confronts him as he leaves the convenience store. Police say Brown took almost $50 worth of cigarillos. The release of the video upsets protesters.
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AUG. 16, 2014: Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declares a state of emergency and imposes a curfew in Ferguson.
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AUG. 18, 2014: Nixon calls the National Guard to Ferguson to help restore order. He lifts the curfew.
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AUG. 20, 2014: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder visits Ferguson to offer assurances about the investigation into Brown’s death and to meet with investigators and Brown’s family. A grand jury begins hearing evidence to determine whether Wilson should be charged.
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AUG. 21, 2014: Nixon orders the National Guard to withdraw from Ferguson.
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SEPT. 25, 2014: Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson releases a videotaped apology to Brown’s family and attempts to march in solidarity with protesters. The move backfires when Ferguson officers scuffle with demonstrators and arrest one person moments after Jackson, who is white, joins the group.
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NOV. 17, 2014: Nixon declares a state of emergency and activates the National Guard again ahead of a decision from a grand jury. He places Ferguson police in charge of security in Ferguson, with orders for them to work as a unified command with other departments.
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NOV. 18, 2014: Nixon names 16 people to the Ferguson Commission, an independent panel charged with examining race relations, failing schools and other social and economic issues. Nine of its members are Black. Seven are white.
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NOV. 24, 2014: St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch announces that the grand jury has decided not to indict Wilson. Protests that were passionate but peaceful earlier in the day turn violent. At least a dozen buildings and multiple police cars are burned, officers are hit by rocks and batteries, and reports of gunfire force some St. Louis-bound flights to be diverted.
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NOV. 29, 2014: Wilson announces his resignation from the Ferguson Police Department effective immediately.
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MARCH 4, 2015: The U.S. Department of Justice announces that it will not prosecute Wilson in Brown’s death but releases a scathing report that finds racial bias in the way police and courts in the community treat Black people.
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MARCH 11, 2015: Jackson resigns effective March 19. The police chief is the sixth employee to resign or be fired after the Justice Department report. He is replaced on an interim basis by his top commander, Lt. Col. Al Eickhoff, who is also white.
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MARCH 12, 2015: Two St. Louis-area police officers are shot in front of the Ferguson Police Department during a demonstration by protesters. Three days later, a 20-year-old man is charged with first-degree assault in the shootings.
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APRIL 7, 2015: In Ferguson’s first municipal election since Brown’s death, two of the three City Council members elected are Black. Black people now hold three of six seats, compared with one seat prior to the election.
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APRIL 23, 2015: Lawyers for Brown’s family sue the city of Ferguson, Wilson and Jackson.
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MAY 20, 2015: The large makeshift memorial that sat in the middle of Canfield Drive for months, in the same spot where Brown’s body had been, is cleared out on what would have been his 19th birthday, giving way to a permanent plaque installed nearby in his memory.
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JUNE 9, 2015: Ferguson hires a new municipal judge and interim city manager, both of them Black.
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JULY 10, 2015: Nixon signs into law legislation limiting cities’ ability to profit from traffic tickets and court fines, the first significant step taken by state lawmakers to address concerns raised after Brown’s death. Among other things, the law lowers the percentage of revenue most cities can collect from traffic fines and fees from 30% to 20%.
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JULY 22, 2015: Andre Anderson, a Black, longtime police administrator in suburban Phoenix, is introduced as Ferguson’s new interim police chief.
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SEPT. 14, 2015: The Ferguson Commission releases its report addressing the economic and racial factors that contributed to the unrest after Brown’s death.
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JAN. 27, 2016: Ferguson announces a tentative deal with the Justice Department to reform the city’s policing and municipal court. The recommended overhaul follows seven months of negotiations.
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FEB. 9, 2016: Ferguson’s City Council unanimously votes to revise the agreement with the Justice Department, proposing seven amendments that the mayor says were formulated after an analysis showed the deal was so expensive it could lead to the dissolution of Ferguson. The Justice Department responds by suing Ferguson.
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MARCH 2016: Former Miami police officer Delrish Moss, who is Black, is appointed Ferguson police chief following a nationwide search.
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APRIL 19, 2016: Ferguson and the Justice Department reach an agreement that ends the lawsuit and requires sweeping reforms of the city’s police and court systems.
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APRIL 4, 2017: Incumbent Mayor James Knowles III, who is white, is reelected to a third three-year term, overcoming opposition from Ella Jones, a Black city councilwoman.
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JUNE 20, 2017: A federal judge in St. Louis approves a wrongful-death lawsuit settlement that awards Brown’s parents $1.5 million.
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JULY 26, 2017: The Ferguson Community Empowerment Center opens at the site where the QuikTrip convenience store burned the day after Brown’s death. The center houses the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Salvation Army and other offices.
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SEPT. 15, 2017: Former St. Louis city police officer Jason Stockley, who is white, is acquitted in the 2011 death of 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith, who was Black. Smith was suspected of making a drug transaction and killed after a car chase with police. The massive protests that follow Stockley’s acquittal are the largest in the St. Louis region since the immediate aftermath of Brown’s death.
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AUG. 7, 2018: In a stunning upset, Ferguson City Councilman Wesley Bell defeats 28-year incumbent McCulloch in the Democratic primary for St. Louis County prosecutor. Bell, who is Black, was unopposed in the November election and took office in January 2019. McCulloch, who is white, was seen as an old-school, law-and-order prosecutor who drew criticism for his handling of the Wilson investigation. Bell ran on a platform of reforms, saying he would work to reduce incarcerations and start a unit to investigate shootings involving officers.
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APRIL 2, 2019: Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, loses her bid for a Ferguson City Council seat. She finishes third in a three-way race in Ferguson’s 3rd Ward. She vows to stay active in the community.
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JULY 23, 2019: New Police Chief Jason Armstrong is sworn in. Counting interim chiefs, Armstrong, who is Black, becomes Ferguson’s fifth chief since Jackson resigned in 2015.
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JUNE 2, 2020: City Council member Ella Jones is elected mayor of Ferguson, becoming the city’s first Black mayor. Knowles, the three-term incumbent, could not seek a fourth three-year term due to term limits.
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AUG. 4, 2020: Cori Bush, who earned notoriety for her leadership during protests in Ferguson, upsets longtime U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay in Missouri’s 1st District Democratic primary. Bush went on to win easily in November 2020.
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AUGUST 2021: Frank McCall is promoted to police chief to replace Armstrong, who left for another job.
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APRIL 2023: Ella Jones is reelected mayor, winning by 21 votes.
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APRIL 2023: Troy Doyle is named police chief, replacing McCall, who resigned. Doyle spent more than three decades with the St. Louis County Police Department.
___ AUG. 6, 2024: Bell, the St. Louis County prosecutor, defeats Bush in Missouri’s 1st District Democratic primary. Pro-Israeli groups spent millions to unseat Bush, who had been an outspoken critic of Israel’s response to the October attack by Hamas.
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Check out the AP’s complete coverage of the Michael Brown shooting and events that followed.
