World
U.S. President Barack Obama has appealed for calm in Ferguson, Missouri, after the shooting of a black teenager, Michael Brown, by police sparked two nights of violence.
In two nights of unrest in the St Louis suburb, dozens were arrested, shops looted and tear gas fired by police. According to The Washington Post:
In a statement, Obama said that the 18-year-old’s death has “prompted strong passions” but urged people to remember Brown, through “reflection and understanding.”
“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. “We should comfort each other and talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. Along with our prayers, that’s what Michael and his family, and our broader American community, deserve.”
The NAACP has issued a call for the Ferguson Police Department to release the name of Brown's shooter. U.S. News and World Report states:
“It seems to me that the most important thing here is to let the facts come out as quickly as possible, sending a signal to the community that the investigation is proceeding and that the investigation will in fact be transparent,” says Cornell William Brooks, national president the NAACP.
“I don’t believe, where the name will be known at some point, delaying that for any undue period of time helps the situation.” Ferguson Police Department Chief Thomas Jackson backtracked on an earlier statement that he would release the name once he notified the officer, saying Tuesday the department no longer plans on publicly identifying the shooter.
