Hands up, don't shoot
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"Hands up, don't shoot", sometimes shortened to "hands up", is a slogan and gesture that originated after the August 9, 2014, shooting of Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Missouri Ferguson is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Per the 2020 census, the population was 18,527. History What is now the city of Ferguson was founded in 1855, when William ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and then adopted at protests against police brutality in the U.S.A. The slogan implies one has their hands in the air, a common sign of submission, and is therefore not a threat to an approaching police officer. Witness reports from the Brown shooting are conflicted as to what Brown was doing with his hands when he was shot. One witness, who was later identified as Brown’s friend, claimed Brown had his hands in the air before being killed, although investigations later found that the 'hands up' claim was inconsistent with the physical and forensic evidence.


Origin and backstory

The first recorded incident of "Hands up" being chanted at a protest was during student protests in London in 2009. Trapped by riot police on Westminster bridge, some protesters raised their hands to demonstrate that they were not instigating the police violence and shouted "Hands up" to encourage others to do the same. On Saturday, August 9, 2014, Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson were walking together in Ferguson, Missouri after Brown robbed a convenience store. They were stopped by Officer Darren Wilson. There is still no clear report of exactly what transpired between this point of the incident and when Brown was shot because of major inconsistencies in the witnesses' stories. Wilson claimed that Brown reached into his police SUV for the officer's gun, but prosecutors were neither able to confirm nor disprove this. After the altercation near the vehicle, the official incident report says that Brown ran away from the vehicle. Then, Brown turned back around and started moving back toward the officer. Officer Wilson claimed he feared for the safety of his life, and that is when he shot and killed Michael Brown. One recurring feature in Dorian Johnson's eyewitness account of the incident was that Michael Brown put his hands in the air during the encounter with Officer Wilson. This claim was never investigated or vetted by anyone in the mainstream media, and was repeatedly broadcast as fact, causing more tension over this narrative. A typical recollection by Dorian Johnson was phrased as " ichael Brownturned around, and he put his hands in the air, and he started to get down." Three days after the killing of Michael Brown, Johnson told
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...
that Brown said, "I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!" On , 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a report on the shooting, which said, "There is no witness who has stated that Brown had his hands up in surrender whose statement is otherwise consistent with the physical evidence" and "our investigation did not reveal any eyewitness who stated that Brown said 'don't shoot'." In addition to Johnson, several witnesses to the shooting of Michael Brown described him as having his hands up during the encounter. However, no one else recalled Brown asking Wilson not to shoot his firearm. Impromptu protests erupted immediately after the shooting. Tension between the community and the police escalated quickly. Shortly after the shooting, Brown's stepfather held a placard that read "Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son!!!" By 8:30 that same evening, demonstrators were chanting "We are Michael Brown!" They also marched to the headquarters of the Ferguson Police Department, where they chanted " No justice! No peace!" Residents also held their hands in the air and said to police officers "Don't shoot me!" The ''
St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-De ...
'' photographed protesters with their hands in the air shouting "Don't shoot us!" at the police. The community reaction to Michael Brown's death continued through Sunday, August 10 with a variety of actions, including more protests and a vigil, as well as widespread looting and arson attacks on local businesses. On Monday, August 11, as the FBI promised to investigate the shooting, and the NAACP organized a meeting in the community, the hands up gesture was continuing to be employed by protesters who were emulating what they understood to be the final posture of Michael Brown.FERGUSON DAY THREE WRAPUP: Calls for Justice
, St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 12, 2014. Accessed: August 30, 2016.
After the looting on Sunday, police officers were equipped with rubber bullets and tear gas on Monday night. During a standoff with police, several men approached officers with their hands raised saying, "Don't shoot me." The hands-up pose had been widely adopted by protesters throughout the weekend. The gesture was often paired with the phrase "Don't shoot me" or "Don't shoot us." During the demonstrations on Monday, the media first documented the posture and the phrase being combined into the slogan "Hands Up, Don't Shoot." Brown's death took place after the deaths of Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin. In the wake of Trayvon Martin's death, the BlackLivesMatter movement exploded in mainstream media. According to the movement's website, it “began as a call to action in response to state-sanctioned violence and anti-Black racism.” From that moment forward, it was an ongoing protest that was only amplified by the deaths of Michael Brown and the others. Many Black Lives Matter activists traveled to Ferguson in Protest of Brown's death. These activists claim that social media has exploded the conversation about these movements, and police brutality in general. The “Hands up, don’t shoot!” slogan/gesture was adopted and is still used by BlackLivesMatter activists because of the synonymous origins and causes of both movements.


Use

By Tuesday, August 13, "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" had become a defining slogan of the protests in Ferguson. The hands up gesture used widely by black males when dealing with Ferguson police was transformed into a weapon of protest.
Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
encouraged demonstrators to use the gesture by saying, "If you're angry, throw your arms up. If you want justice, throw your arms up. Because that's the sign Michael was using. He had a surrender sign. That's the sign you have to deal with. Use the sign he last showed. We want answers why that last sign was not respected." The phrase became a rallying cry for protesters and others trying to draw attention to the killing of Brown and other African Americans by police officers. In November 2014, some members of the St. Louis Rams ran out on the field during pregame introductions with their hands raised above their heads, an action repeated by four members of the Congressional Black Caucus on the House floor in December 2014. The hybrid slogan "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" quickly spread beyond the Ferguson protests. It was often said in solidarity with the protesters in Ferguson.


Black Lives Matter

Though the
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...
activist movement began in response to the death of
Trayvon Martin Trayvon Benjamin Martin (February 5, 1995 – February 26, 2012) was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic American. Martin had accompa ...
two years earlier, it staged its first in-person national protest in the form of a "Black Lives Matter Freedom Ride" to Ferguson, Missouri three weeks after the shooting of Michael Brown. One of the rallying cries at those protests was "Hands Up, Don't Shoot". This became a common chant at Black Lives Matter protests, along with the dying words of
Eric Garner On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner was killed in the New York City borough of Staten Island after Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him. Video footage of the incide ...
("
I can't breathe "I can't breathe" is a slogan associated with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. The phrase originates from the last words of Eric Garner, an unarmed man who was killed in 2014 after being put in a chokehold by a New York C ...
"), and "No justice, no peace".


St. Louis Rams protest

On November 30, 2014, several players on the
St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...
, (
Tavon Austin Tavon Wesley Austin (born March 15, 1990) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at West Virginia where he received All-American honors twice. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the first ro ...
, Stedman Bailey,
Kenny Britt Kenneth Lawrence Britt (born September 19, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Rutgers and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the 30th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. He has also played fo ...
,
Jared Cook Jared Alan Cook (born April 7, 1987) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He played college football at the University of South Carolina and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He has ...
and
Chris Givens Chris Givens (born December 6, 1989) is a former American football wide receiver. He was selected in the fourth round, 96th overall by the St. Louis Rams in the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at Wake Forest. High school career Gi ...
) entered the field during an NFL game making the gesture. The St. Louis Police Officers Association said the act was "way out-of-bounds" and the organization "is profoundly disappointed with the members of the St. Louis Rams football team who chose to ignore the mountains of evidence released from the St. Louis County Grand Jury this week and engage in a display that police officers around the nation found tasteless, offensive, and inflammatory". Rams Coach
Jeff Fisher Jeffrey Michael Fisher (born February 25, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach and general manager for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). He is a former cornerback and return specialist. He ...
and a team spokesman said that they were unaware of the players' plans before the game and the players "were exercising their right to free speech". Against the St. Louis Police Officers Association's request, the NFL did not punish the players, because the gesture was political and unlike other major professional sports leagues NFL does not punish players for political gestures. The NFL's vice president of communications said, "We respect and understand the concerns of all individuals who have expressed views on this tragic situation." Jared Cook, one of the Rams players, received threats after making the gesture.


Capitol Hill

On December 1, 2014, several lawmakers in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
made the gesture to protest the shooting and police brutality. Rep.
Hakeem Jeffries Hakeem Sekou Jeffries (; born August 4, 1970) is an American politician and attorney and leader-elect of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jeffries has represented New York's 8th congressional district, anchored in s ...
(D- New York) said on the floor: Other members of the
Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce B ...
joining Jeffries were Reps.
Yvette Clarke Yvette Diane Clarke (born November 21, 1964) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 9th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she first entered Congress in 2007, representing ...
(D-New York), Al Green (D-
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
) and
Sheila Jackson Lee Sheila Jackson Lee (born January 12, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who is the U.S. representative for , having served since 1995. The district includes most of central Houston. She is a member of the Democratic Party, and serve ...
(D-Texas), who praised the football players who made the gesture the night before. On December 11, more than 150 black congressional staffers staged a walkout and silent protest in a display of unity with demonstrations against the
Eric Garner On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner was killed in the New York City borough of Staten Island after Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him. Video footage of the incide ...
and Brown grand jury decisions. Senate Chaplain Dr. Barry Black led the crowd in prayer. They were gathered there, Black said, to be a "voice for the voiceless". After prayer, the crowd of staff and lawmakers posed while making the gesture.


''CNN Newsroom''

On December 13, 2014, after a story about the ongoing protest, three members of the ''
CNN Newsroom ''CNN Newsroom'' (also simply known as ''Newsroom'') is an American news programming block that airs on CNN. Broadcasting for 43 hours each week, ''Newsroom'' features live and taped news reports, in addition to analysis from experts on the iss ...
'' panel held up their hands while a fourth held up a sheet of paper reading "I can't breathe", a reference to the
death of Eric Garner On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner was killed in the New York City borough of Staten Island after Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him. Video footage of the incide ...
. "Our hearts are with he protesters was stated, but "hands up, don't shoot" was not said during the broadcast. The gesture attracted criticism because it appeared on a program that was not supposed to be opinion-oriented.


In music

A Verge article stated that during Pharrell Williams' performance of the song " Happy" at the
57th Annual Grammy Awards The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST ( UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time ...
, the singer and backup performers made the hands up gesture; however, the connection to the incident is speculation by the article's author.
Macklemore Benjamin Hammond Haggerty (born June 19, 1983), better known by his stage name Macklemore ( ; (formerly Professor Macklemore), is an American rapper and songwriter. A native of Seattle, Washington, he has collaborated with producer Ryan Lewi ...
and
Ryan Lewis Ryan Scott Lewis (born March 25, 1988) is an American record producer, DJ, videographer, photographer, graphic designer, music video director, rapper, and songwriter. Along with producing his own album, ''Instrumentals'', Lewis produced the alb ...
reference the chanting of "hands up, don't shoot" in their song "White Privilege II". On December 9, 2015, Daye Jack released the song "Hands up" about police brutality, in which he sings: "Living with my head down – Hands up – no no don’t shoot, don’t shoot" as a direct reference to the killing of Michael Brown. Kanye West references the gesture in his song "Feedback" from his 2016 release ''The Life of Pablo'' with the lines "Hands up we just doing what the cops taught us. Hands up, hands up then the cops shot us."
Kimya Dawson Kimya Dawson (born November 17, 1972) is an American folk singer-songwriter, one half of the anti-folk duo the Moldy Peaches. Dawson's work with the Moldy Peaches earned them a cult following and critical acclaim, with their 2001 song "Anyone El ...
's song "At the Seams" references the gesture, saying "Hands up, don't shoot, I can't breathe. Black Lives Matter, no justice no peace." Experimental hip-hop group clipping. quotes the "hands up, don't shoot" motto in their song "Blood of the Fang," which largely deals with themes of racist violence in the American Civil Rights movement.


In religious art

In 2015 Rev. Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones, a priest at Trinity Episcopal Church in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, commissioned the icon
Our Lady of Ferguson ''Our Lady, Mother of Ferguson and All Those Killed by Gun Violence'', simply known as ''Our Lady of Ferguson'', is an icon of the Madonna and Child. The icon, which depicts the Virgin Mary as a Black Madonna, was created in 2015 by Mark Doox (fo ...
, which depicts the
Madonna and Child In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent i ...
with their hands up, in response to the Shooting of Michael Brown.


Hong Kong

From September to December 2014, protesters in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
rallied against the Chinese government's reversal of its promise to grant them full democratic rights. During what became known as the
Umbrella Revolution A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014. The protests began after th ...
, protesters reacted to the heavy-handed tactics of the police by invoking the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" chant.


Criticism

In response to the death of Michael Brown, the Criminal Section of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
opened an investigation into whether or not Officer Wilson violated federal laws.


Investigation

On March 4, 2015, the Department of Justice released their report of the investigation. This report found that physical and forensic evidence contradicted witnesses who claimed that Brown had his hands up when Wilson shot him. It also stated that witnesses whose testimony aligned with the physical and forensic evidence never "perceived Brown to be attempting to surrender at any point when Wilson fired upon him." The report concluded there was no justification for a federal prosecution of Officer Wilson.


''The Washington Post''

In the wake of the report, many pundits began to refer to the "Hands up, Don't Shoot" slogan as "a lie" or "based on a lie". ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''s
Fact Checker Fact-checking is the process of verifying factual information, in order to promote the veracity and correctness of reporting. Fact-checking can be conducted before (''ante hoc'') or after (''post hoc'') the text is published or otherwise dissem ...
feature gave "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" four Pinocchios denoting it as an outright lie. Despite this, the slogan has an enduring symbolic meaning for activists. As one protester remarked, "Even if you don't find that it's true, it's a valid rallying cry... it's just a metaphor."


Outcome


Darren Wilson

The Grand Jury recommended no indictment of Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of Michael Brown after the long-awaited investigation. This investigation came to an end in March, authenticated that Wilson involvement in this incident had been cleared of any legal or civil rights violations. This initiated an outrage amongst many citizens in the Ferguson community, which is what sparked this Hands Up Don't Shoot movement to begin. After this investigation came to a close, Darren Wilson was no longer a police officer for the Ferguson Police Department, and has moved away to a closely guarded residence which remains unknown. Given that this shooting has brought on a lot of animosity towards Wilson from people around the world, he did have supporters that saved up $500,000 to help pay for his protection and his legal defense team.


Ferguson Police Department

Since the shooting of Michael Brown, there have been changes made in the Ferguson Police Department. Many officers have resigned, including the Ferguson Chief of Police, Thomas Jackson, and the officer who shot Michael Brown, Darren Wilson. The shooting has directed a great amount of attention to this community and the Ferguson Police Department, and in retrospect many officers have fallen off the radar. Other changes have been put into effect as well, which include an increase in minority officers, and the use of body cameras when conducting a search. What led to these changes was an investigation performed by the Justice Department. In the investigation, which was published March 2015, they found "a pattern or practice of unlawful conduct." This conduct includes an immoderate number of tickets and amount of fines that were disproportionately given to the black residents of Ferguson. In effect, a reform was put out that enforced changes to the conduct of searches, arrests, and general police interactions with citizens. Now officers are to wear body cameras while on duty, and minorities from the Ferguson Community are stepping up as police officers to strengthen the interactions between the police and the residents of Ferguson.


See also

* Can't we all just get along? * Don't Shoot Portland * Don't tase me, bro! *
Driving while black "Driving while black" (DWB) is a sardonic description of racial profiling of African-American motor vehicle drivers. It implies that a motorist may be stopped by a police officer largely because of racial bias rather than any apparent violation ...
*
List of gestures Gestures are a form of nonverbal communication in which visible bodily actions are used to communicate important messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face ...
* List of fatalities involving law enforcement officers in the United States, August 2014 * Killing of Adam Toledo


References


External links

* Dorian Johnson recalling the shooting
CBC News
* Department of Justice Report
pdf
* Video of demonstrators chanting "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" on Monday, August 11, 2014.
Twitter
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