The recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, have played out in a way that only Quentin Tarantino could have imagined. <\/p>\n
Tarantino’s films, which are very violent, often tell their story from more than one perspective. Scenes are not shown in the usual order. Key information is presented after the fact, reversing<\/span> whatever conclusions one may have drawn up to that point. It’s not possible to fully understand what’s happened until the final scene.<\/p>\n Ferguson is, sadly, real life, but if it were a movie, it would probably be in its second hour right now. Here’s what is believed to have happened, in roughly the order in which it became known.<\/p>\n \u2022 On August 9, policeman Darren Wilson<\/b> told an 18-year-old man not to walk in the street. The young man walked toward him. Wilson, from inside his car, shot him at least six times. \u2022 Citizens have staged<\/span> nightly protests against the will of the police, often chanting<\/span>, “Hands up! Don’t shoot!”
\u2022 The young man, Michael Brown<\/b>, was unarmed<\/span>.
\u2022 The policeman, like nearly all of the police in Ferguson, is white. The young man, like two-thirds of the community where he lives, was black.
\u2022 Wilson said Brown had tried to reach for<\/span> his (Wilson’s) weapon.
\u2022 The main witness<\/span> to the shooting says Brown had put his hands up and said, “Don’t shoot.”
\u2022 The main witness to the shooting is a friend of the victim.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Some looting<\/span> has occurred. Some local people have also protected businesses from being looted.
\u2022 As in other US cities, the police are “militarized”<\/a>, using vehicles and equipment given to them for free<\/span> by the Defense Department<\/span>.
\u2022 Police have shot tear gas at journalists, have arrested several and have beaten up<\/span> at least a few of them.<\/p>\n