Mark Kauzlarich (University of Missouri)
Unease: Ferguson During the Day
Award of Excellence
Domestic Picture Story
While national and international news media focused on the increasingly dangerous nighttime protests and looting in Ferguson, Mo., during the day, people from the area and around the country gathered in acts of civil disobedience in protest of the police killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Despite the apparent safety of the daytime gatherings, large numbers of protestors, angry over police treatment and racial divides in the area, caused concern for police as tension was palpable. Even as protestors grew tired from over a week of nightly marches, the relatively quiet of Ferguson during the day hinted at the chaotic nights.
Story: Unease: Ferguson During the Day
Untitled
Drummers and dancers gather outside the burnt-out hulk of the QuikTrip gas station that served as a staging ground for protestors in Ferguson, Mo. The QT, as it was locally known, felt victim to looting and was destroyed during protests over local police's shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. Eventually the QT's parking lot was closed as it was deemed to be a staging ground for unsafe nightly protests.
Story: Unease: Ferguson During the Day
Marching
Protestors march down W. Florissant Ave. in Ferguson, Mo., on the evening of August 16, days following the police shooting of Michael Brown. For some time on August 16, members of the New Black Panther Party had negotiated an informal agreement with police to shut down W. Florissant so protestors could march without danger to and from traffic.
Story: Unease: Ferguson During the Day
Support
Protestors cheer at a rally convened at a local church in reaction to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. Earlier, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ordered a federal autopsy of the teenager shot dead by a police officer, while supporters gathered to listen to Rev. Al Sharpton and others and support Brown's family during this trying time.
Story: Unease: Ferguson During the Day
Looted
A partially-burned chair sits in a pool of water caused by a sprinkler system that prevented the total destruction of a local restaurant after it was looted and set on fire. In response to continued flare-ups of dangerous protests, police also started preventing demonstrators from stopping along sidewalks but allowing marches up and down sidewalks on the same stretch of street outside the restaurant and along W. Florissant Ave.
Story: Unease: Ferguson During the Day
Hands Up
A protestor parked in the middle of W. Florissant Ave. in Ferguson, Mo., holding his baby son and encouraging the cheers and chants of protestors on the sidewalk. Holding both hands high became a common show of support in the memory of Michael Brown who was, according to witnesses, running from the police with his hands up at the time he was shot and killed.
Story: Unease: Ferguson During the Day
Canfield
Just blocks from where the shooting of Michael Brown took place on Canfield Dr., protestors climb a truck for a better vantage point on the growing crowd. Days later, Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson would speak to the owner of the van privately and was able to move the vehicle off the street for safety reasons.
Story: Unease: Ferguson During the Day
Prepared
Police officers, some with riot gear, survey the growing crowds and prepare for potentially another night of violent protests in Ferguson, Mo. after a day of uneasy but peaceful tension in the city.
Story: Unease: Ferguson During the Day
Rest
Three young St. Louis area residents, including those who go by Mr. Carter, center, and Tyler, right, find shade from the hot day to rest up before potential protests later in the evening in Ferguson, Mo. As the protests neared the end of their second week, much of the evening violence and daytime marches had subsided, but some residents still remained along W. Florissant Avenue.