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DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2014
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30
Autopsy: Michael
Brown repeatedly shot
By Alan Scher Zagier
FERGUSON, Missouri (AP)
An unarmed black 18-year-old
vhose fatal shooting by a white
Police officer has sparked a week
)f protests in suburban St. Louis
offered a bullet wound to his
ight arm that may indicate his
hands were up or his back was
turned, a pathologist hired by his
family said.
But the pathologist said the
independent team that examined
Michael Brown can’t be sure yet
exactly how the wounds were
inflicted, citing the need for
more information.
The autopsy determined that
he was shot at least six times,
including twice in the head, ac
cording to the pathologists and
the family’s attorneys. Another
autopsy conducted by St. Louis
County also found Brown was
Lamont Lilly speaks to a crowd of 300 meeting to protest the death of Michael
Irown. The crowd packed the area outside Durham’s old courthouse for a vigil to
rotest police brutality in Ferguson Mo., Durham and the country,August 14. See
ictures on page 2.
Obama on Ferguson: Time
to listen, not just shout
By Jim Kuhnhenn
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama said Aug. 18 that the vast majority of protesters
n a St. Louis suburb were peaceful, but warned that a small minority was undermining justice for
the unarmed black man shot and killed by police.
During a brief pause in his summer vacation, Obama expressed sympathy for the “passions and
anger” sparked by the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, but said giving
in to that anger through looting and attacks on police only stirs tensions and leads to further chaos.
Ie said overcoming the mistrust endemic between many communities and their local police would
require Americans to “listen and not just shout.”
“That's how we’re going to move forward together, by trying to unite each other and understand
each other and not simply divide ourselves from one another,” Obama told reporters at the White
Obama said Attorney General Eric Holder would travel to Ferguson this week to meet with FBI
and other officials carrying out an independent federal investigation into Brown’s death. He said he
also had told Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon he wanted to ensure the use the National Guard in help calm
was shot six to eight times, and
that he was hit in the head and
chest.
Brown’s death heightened
racial tensions between the
predominantly black commu
nity and the mostly white Fer
guson Police Department. Civil
rights activists have compared
the shooting to other racially
charged cases, especially the
2012 death of Trayvon Martin,
the unarmed black teenager shot
by a Florida neighborhood watch
organizer who was .later acquit
ted of murder. Both cases have
fueled nationwide debates on the
treatment of young black men in
America.
After nightfall, police and
protesters were again in a tense
standoff Aug. 18 crowds filled
the streets. Officers used bull
horns to order people out of the
street and deployed noisemakers
and armored vehicles to push
demonstrators back. There were
no immediate reports of vio
lence.
In Washington, President
Obama said in a news confer
ence that Attorney General Eric
Holder would arrive Aug. 20 in
Ferguson to meet with FBI and
ofiier officials carrying out an in
dependent federal investigation
into Brown’s death.
The Aug. 9 shooting touched
off rancorous protests in the St.
Louis suburb where police have
used riot gear and tear gas. Gov.
Jay Nixon ordered the National
Guard to Ferguson to restore or
der Aug. 18, while lifting a mid-
night-to-5 a.m. curfew that had
been in place for two days.
Obama said he told Nixon he
wanted to ensure the use of Na
tional Guard reservists to help
calm tensions must be limited
in scope, and said he would be
monitoring that operation in the
coming days to see whether the
guard’s involvement was helping
or hurting.
Guard units with armored ve
hicles were waiting at a staging
area about a half-mile from the
portion of West Florissant Av
enue that has been the scene of
the largest protests.
Police have said little about
the encounter between Brown
and the white officer, except to
say that it involved a scuffle in
which the officer was injured
(Continued On Page 3)
The 55th Boule of Tau Gamma Delta Sorority, Inc.
was held in Detroit, Michigan, July 22 - 26. Ms. Judy
B. Dillard was elected to serve as National President.
See story on page 3.
Jesse Jackson Calls
Michael Brown Shooting
Crime of Injustice’
By Chris King
The St. Louis American
ST. LOUIS - Jesse Jackson told The American he hopes that the
U.S. Department of Justice sees the Ferguson Police shooting of Mi
chael Brown on Aug. 16 and resulting community violence as “sys
tematic of a national crisis.”
Jackson said, “It was a crime of injustice.” Jackson said.
The injustice, he said, was two-fold: a police shooting of an un
armed black teen followed by black youth from high-unemployment
neighborhoods erupting in rage.
"Black men should not be the objects of target practice,” Jackson
said of the shooting. “It’s not a unique situation. It’s a prototypical
American situation. Police departments do not reflect the population.
It’s awful, but it’s not unique.”
The resulting community violence on Sunday, following a non-
violent candlelight vigil to commemorate Brown, should be seen in
the context of a chronic urban crisis, he said.
“Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction,” Jackson said. “Poverty
is in the community, guns are in, drugs are in, jobs are out. Banks are
bailed out without meaningful community reinvestment. Too many
people have no stake in the culture.”
Jackson said that chronic urban problems remain to be addressed
after the shooting of Michael Brown and the community’s outrage
are resolved.
“These kids need educations, skills, job training, jobs, scholar
ships to college,” Jackson said. “We need a national forum on urban
policy, justice and repression. This is a national crisis that has mani
fested in Ferguson.”
tensions in Ferguson must be limited in scope, and said he would be monitoring that operation in the
coming days to see whether the guard’s involvement was helping or hurting.
The ongoing confrontation, with military-style vehicles rolling through suburban streets, has left
Americans and others wondering how such a war-like scene could play out in the country’s s heart-
land.
Brown was unarmed when he was fatally shot by a police officer on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, a pre
dominantly black community that long has been at odds with the mostly white police department.
Results of an independent autopsy released Aug. 18 by Brown’s family determined that Brown was
shot at least six times, including twice in the head.
Obama also weighed in for the first time publicly on the militarization of some local police
departments, saying it probably would be useful to examine how federal grant dollars had been used
to allow local police to purchase military-style equipment, an issue that’s come to the forefront amid
the violent protests in Ferguson. Obama said the distinction between the military and domestic law
enforcement was one of the great things about America.
Appearing in the White House briefing room in a dress shirt but no tie, Obama also spoke for the
first time to the racial tensions and grievances perceived by African-Americans in Ferguson. In pre
vious comments about the situation, Obama had avoided talking directly about race, wary of rushing
to judgment or further inflaming the situation.
Weighing his words carefully, Obama said it was clear that disparities in how blacks and whites
are treated and sentenced must be addressed, calling for more safeguards and training to prevent mis-
steps. At the same time, he acknowledged the difficult situation that police officers sometimes face.
“There are young black men that commit crime. We can argue about why that happened - because
the poverty they were born into or the school systems that failed them or what have you- but if they
commit a crime, then they need to be prosecuted,” Obama said. “Because every community has an
interest in public safety.”
Obama’s remarks on the crisis were the first since the situation in Ferguson escalated over the
weekend, with Nixon, the Missouri governor, ordering a midnight curfew for Ferguson and order
ing National Guard troops to help restore order. Nixon lifted that curfew on Aug. 18, but tensions
remained high the morning after police once again deployed tear gas in response to what they said
were reports of gunfire, looting and vandalism by protesters.
Shortly before speaking to reporters Aug. 18, Obama received an update from top advisers includ
ing Holder and White House Counsel Neil Eggleston. Obama has asked the Justice Department and .
FBI to investigate Brown’s death, and Holder over the weekend ordered a federal medical examiner
to perform a third autopsy on Brown. (Continued On Page 2)
NCCU Chancellor Debra Saunders-White welcomed the newest Eagles during Eagle Move-In,
Aug. 13 and 14. The two-day tradition welcomes first-time and new transfer students and kicked
off a series of student-focused events known as “Week of Welcome.” See pictures on page 6. PHO
TO BY NCCU PUBLIC RELATIONS