One of the many unsettling things to come out of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, in the wake of the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager at the hands of local police is demonstrators’ rallying cry of “Hands up, don’t shoot.” The slogan emerged from accounts of witnesses to the death Saturday of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who is said to have put his hands over his head before he was shot and killed by an officer.
Since Brown’s death, Ferguson has been engulfed by protests and heavily armed police units. Wednesday night, as more harrowing stories flowed out of the St. Louis suburb—including the arrests of two reporters from Washington and tear gas being fired into crowds seemingly indiscriminately—a large group of students at Howard University staged their own response.
More than 300 students, back on campus to prepare for freshman orientation, posed for a photo inside Cramton Auditorium on the historically black college’s Northwest DC campus with their hands over their heads in solidarity with the protestors in Ferguson. Megan Sims, a junior at Howard, tweeted out the photo, which has since gone quite viral. As of 11:30 AM, it had been retweeted nearly 8,000 times.
“Powerful picture we took today at Howard University #Ferguson #MikeBrown #MyaWhite #DONTSHOOT,” Sims wrote in the accompanying tweet. Besides Brown, the tweet also refers to Mya White, a Howard alumna who was wounded Wednesday while participating in a demonstration in Ferguson.
Protests and rallies in response to Brown’s death are spreading beyond Missouri, with vigils planned for 7 tonight in DC’s Meridian Hill Park, a parking lot at Minnieville Road and Dale Boulevard in Woodbridge, and Dock Street in Annapolis.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
Howard University Students Take Powerful Photo in Response to Michael Brown Shooting
More than 300 students posed to protest the police killing of an unarmed black teenager.
One of the many unsettling things to come out of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, in the wake of the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager at the hands of local police is demonstrators’ rallying cry of “Hands up, don’t shoot.” The slogan emerged from accounts of witnesses to the death Saturday of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who is said to have put his hands over his head before he was shot and killed by an officer.
Since Brown’s death, Ferguson has been engulfed by protests and heavily armed police units. Wednesday night, as more harrowing stories flowed out of the St. Louis suburb—including the arrests of two reporters from Washington and tear gas being fired into crowds seemingly indiscriminately—a large group of students at Howard University staged their own response.
More than 300 students, back on campus to prepare for freshman orientation, posed for a photo inside Cramton Auditorium on the historically black college’s Northwest DC campus with their hands over their heads in solidarity with the protestors in Ferguson. Megan Sims, a junior at Howard, tweeted out the photo, which has since gone quite viral. As of 11:30 AM, it had been retweeted nearly 8,000 times.
“Powerful picture we took today at Howard University #Ferguson #MikeBrown #MyaWhite #DONTSHOOT,” Sims wrote in the accompanying tweet. Besides Brown, the tweet also refers to Mya White, a Howard alumna who was wounded Wednesday while participating in a demonstration in Ferguson.
Protests and rallies in response to Brown’s death are spreading beyond Missouri, with vigils planned for 7 tonight in DC’s Meridian Hill Park, a parking lot at Minnieville Road and Dale Boulevard in Woodbridge, and Dock Street in Annapolis.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
Most Popular in News & Politics
Sandwich Guy Has Become DC’s Hero
Pirro’s Office Fails to Get Indictment Against Sandwich Guy
How Washingtonians Can Run, March, and Rally Against the Trump Administration Takeover
Fiona Apple Wrote a Song About This Maryland Court-Watching Effort
DC’s Police Union Head Is the Biggest Cheerleader of Trump’s DC Police Takeover
Washingtonian Magazine
September Issue: Style Setters
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
These Confusing Bands Aren’t Actually From DC
Fiona Apple Wrote a Song About This Maryland Court-Watching Effort
The Confusing Dispute Over the Future of the Anacostia Playhouse
Protecting Our Drinking Water Keeps Him Up at Night
More from News & Politics
The “MAGA Former Dancer” Named to a Top Job at the Kennedy Center Inherits a Troubled Program
Epstein Survivors Will Rally in DC Today, Trump Denies That He Has Died, and Someone Is Dotting Capitol Hill Trees With Bananas
We’re Calling It Now: Sandwich Guy Is the DC Halloween Costume of the Year
No Phones Allowed at This New DC Bar. Seriously.
Trump Defies Internet Sleuths by Posting Furiously About Hulk Hogan and Other Stuff, Rudy Giuliani to Receive Nation’s Highest Civilian Honor, and Chester the Toucan Got Rescued in Arlington
These Confusing Bands Aren’t Actually From DC
How Washingtonians Can Run, March, and Rally Against the Trump Administration Takeover
Sandwich Guy Is Now Charged With a Misdemeanor, Trump Wants to Keep DC Safe From Brutalist Architecture, and Summer Is Officially Over