CRIME

Police shootings politicized after Michael Brown's killing in Ferguson sparks outcry, violence

Associated Press
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FILE - In this Aug. 17, 2014 file photo, people protest for Michael Brown, who was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. Details may differ, circumstances of their deaths may remain unknown, but the outrage that erupted after the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of the unarmed, black 18-year-old by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, has become a rallying cry in protests over police killings across the nation. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File) (The Associated Press)

In this Aug. 17, 2014 photo, people defy a curfew Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014, before tear gas was fired to disperse a crowd protesting the shooting of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Details may differ, circumstances of their deaths may remain unknown, but the outrage that erupted after the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of the unarmed, black 18-year-old by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, has become a rallying cry in protests over police killings across the nation. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Aug. 14, 2014 file photo, protesters hold their hands up as they walk in the middle of Crenshaw Blvd. to protest the shooting of an unarmed man in Ferguson, Mo., and of other victims of police shootings in Los Angeles. Details may differ, circumstances of their deaths may remain unknown, but the outrage that erupted after the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of the unarmed, black 18-year-old by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, has become a rallying cry in protests over police killings across the nation. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) (The Associated Press)

They were killed in Wisconsin, New York and California. Some were shot on the street. One was killed in a Wal-Mart. Another died after being placed in a chokehold. All died at the hands of police and all have been united by one thing: the killing of Michael Brown.

Details may differ, circumstances of their deaths may remain unknown, but the outrage that erupted after the Aug. 9 shooting of the unarmed, black 18-year-old by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, has become a rallying cry in protests over police killings across the nation.

While there's been nothing approaching the violence and destruction seen in the St. Louis suburb, demonstrations fueled by a sense of injustice and buoyed with the help of social media have rolled across cities this month.