Hands up, don't shoot
[1][2] On March 4, 2015, the Department of Justice, headed by President Obama appointment Eric Holder, released their report of the investigation into the events.
President Obama said of the investigation that he had "complete confidence and [stands] fully behind the Justice Department...” 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."
[7] 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.
[15] Shortly after the shooting, Brown's stepfather held a placard that read "Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son!!!"
[17] 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.
[18] 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.
[21] According to the movement's website, it “began as a call to action in response to state-sanctioned violence and anti-Black racism.”[22] From that moment forward, it was an ongoing protest that was only amplified by the deaths of Michael Brown and the others.
"[25] 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.
[31] This became a common chant at Black Lives Matter protests, along with the dying words of Eric Garner ("I can't breathe"),[32] and "No justice, no peace".
[33] On November 30, 2014, several players on the St. Louis Rams, (Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, Kenny Britt, Jared Cook and Chris Givens)[34] entered the field during an NFL game making the gesture.
[34] 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.
On December 1, 2014, several lawmakers in the United States House of Representatives made the gesture to protest the shooting and police brutality.
[39] 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 and Brown grand jury decisions.
[43] Macklemore and Ryan Lewis reference the chanting of "hands up, don't shoot" in their song "White Privilege II".
[45] American rapper 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.
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.
Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones, a priest at Trinity Episcopal Church in Manhattan, commissioned the icon Our Lady of Ferguson, which depicts the Madonna and Child with their hands up, in response to the Shooting of Michael Brown.
[50][51][52] The Washington Post's Fact Checker feature gave "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" four Pinocchios denoting it as an outright lie.
