The crowd had gathered at the QuickTrip to begin its march down West Florissant Avenue. Just before it had left, gunshots had been reported near the QT parking lot. But up until that point, the night — like every other — had been peaceful. For the past eight days, life before midnight in Ferguson was […]
It was at 11:33PM local time when the woman I call my ‘Ferguson fixer’ called my cell phone. Roberta, a mainstay here, had been helping me the last few days in this town, giving me a lift, pointing out people I should know, telling me about the politics, tipping me off when something may be […]
About 12 hours after the city of Ferguson transformed into America’s version of Tahir Square, I arrived here and asked people a simple question: “Why are you here?” Amid a night of peaceful and triumphant protests, here are their answers: KAREN SCHERER, FERGUSON WALTER RICE, FERGUSON YOLANDA ELKINS, FERGUSON JERRYL T. CHRISTMAS, ST. LOUIS TAMARA SMITH, NORMANDY ANTHONY SHAHID, ST. LOUIS […]
Last night, thousands of protestors gathered in solidarity with the people of Ferguson, after a week of militaristic police oppression and arrests in the small Missouri town, following the slaying of Michael Brown by a cop. The crowd marched about 30 blocks north, from Union Square to Times Square. Police used barricades secluding the protestors and formed a line to prevent […]
A new art installation in Queens aims aims to foster empathy and create dialogue around police brutality by putting visitors into a disorienting space and confronting them with police sirens. According to Reuters, visitors will walk through a dark space in Long Island City’s Flux Factory “one at a time,” where they will be barraged […]
On May 4th, there were two huge, tragic, and conflicting stories in New York City. One was the death of Officer Brian Moore, who was shot in the head in the line of duty on Saturday and succumbed to his injuries on Monday. The other was the non-indictment of Willie Groomes, the retired corrections officer […]
Police union leaders are not known for their strong grasp of reality. Here’s another one: Detectives Endowment Association President Michael Palladino complained during a Thursday press conference about Commissioner Bratton’s discipling of Detective Patrick Cherry, who was placed on modified duty after he was caught on video verbally abusing an Uber driver. According to DNAinfo, […]
ANIMAL’s feature Artist’s Notebook asks artists to show us their original “idea sketch” next to a finished artwork or project. This week, artists Shane + Kevin talk about their series Have you seen Mr. Brown?, animated gifs created by hand-cut, halftone analogue screens. The profits will go to the family of Mike Brown. As artists, […]
Project Veritas, the rightwing advocacy group launched by duplicitous filmmaker James O’Keefe, has used footage of Eric Garner’s daughter in a new video that attempts to discredit Reverend Al Sharpton. The footage includes interviews from activists and families of victims who have received donations from Sharpton’s National Action Network, and it is every bit as […]
As citywide protests have calmed down and the intense focus on the NYPD has begun to lift, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has announced two ways that he plans to push forward controversial policies. The most immediately ominous initiative is a plan for, in Bratton’s words, a “new patrol model for how we deploy resources.” This new […]
