The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. August 11, 2014 Protests Follow Fatal Police Shooting of Unarmed Black Teen in Missouri ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Protests have broken out near St. Louis, Missouri, over a police shooting that killed an unarmed African-American teen. Eighteen-year-old Michael Brown was shot to death in town of Ferguson on Saturday afternoon after being confronted by police. The St. Louis County Police is claiming Brown physically assaulted the officer involved and tried to reach for his weapon inside a police car. But two witnesses provided a sharply different account, with one saying Brown was shot with his arms up as he tried to flee the officer's fire. Dorin Johnson: "A police officer squad car pulled up. And when he pulled up, these was his exact words: He said, 'Get the f—- on the sidewalk.' And we told the officer we was not but a minute away from our destination, and we would surely be off the street." Piaget Crenshaw: "I witnessed the police chase after the guy, full force. He was unarmed. He ran for his life. They shot him, and he fell. He put his arms up to let them know he was compliant and that he was unarmed. And they shot him twice more, and he fell to the ground and died." Michael Brown had recently graduated from high school and was due to begin college courses next week. At the scene of the shooting, Brown's mother, Lesley Mc Spadden, spoke about the loss of her son. Lesley Mc Spadden: "He don't bother nobody. My son just turned 18 and graduated from high school, and he don't bother nobody. I ain't doing good. You got a life I can give to my son so he can come back?" The unidentified officer who shot Brown has been put on administrative leave. Protests immediately erupted after the shooting, with demonstrators marching on the Ferguson police station. Some held their hands up in the air and chanted "don't shoot me." On Sunday night, thousands of people crammed the street where Brown was shot to hold a candlelight vigil. Afterward, a small group of people reportedly carried out acts of vandalism at several local stores and on vehicles, smashing windows and stealing goods. The St. Louis branch of the NAACP is calling on the Justice Department to investigate Brown's killing for potential violations of civil rights. .