Last night, Shark Week spun on to Television sets across America like a whirling, whipping Sharknado (complete with a cameo from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who honored his friend and shark/marine life conservation activist Paul Walker). While the Discovery Channel’s biggest week (and marketing campaign which proves the power of social media) of the year sure dropped jaws during the first special, Air Jaws: Fin of Fury, the news this weekend, ranging from the Ebola virus updates, riots and airstrikes were pretty jaw dropping in and of itself. This Trending News Monday, let’s take a step away from #SharkWeek and look at one of the weekend’s top headlines.
FBI Investigates Police Officer in Death of Missouri Teen
Saturday, Ferguson, Missouri, police shot dead 18-year-old Michael Brown, sparking national scrutiny. The accounts from police seem to differ from that of eyewitnesses. Police claim that two teens forced an officer into the back of his squad car, where they assaulted him; the officer then shot at the boys, hitting Brown multiple times, as they attempted to flee the scene. Eyewitness accounts, however, say that after a verbal confrontation, the police officer got out of his squad car and began shooting at the teens, hitting Brown–who already had his hands up–multiple times.
The community has been protesting the death they feel was a racially fueled attack. Riots broke out in Ferguson last night as a result of the shootings, and the NAACP has urged federal officials to get involved. The officer who fired the shots at Brown has been placed on paid administrative leave while the FBI investigates a possible Civil Rights violation.
Brown had just recently graduated high school and was days away from beginning college.
For more information on the shooting and investigation, click here.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://ourspace.thesanjosegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Cassandra-Bremer-Our-Space-Photo-e1402061863316.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Cassandra is a Content Manager and Developer at SJG. She earned her BA from Fontbonne University in 2011. Outside the office, she enjoys an active, healthy and well-rounded lifestyle including reading, writing, running, golfing, watching films, listening to music, taking photographs, and consuming media and social media.[/author_info] [/author]