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14 Powerful Photos from The Shaw Shooting Protests

by Nuzha Nuseibeh

On Wednesday evening, residents of St. Louis were once again thrown for a loop: another black teenager, Vonderrit Myers Jr, was fatally shot by a cop, this time in the town of Shaw, MO. Only a few miles south of the still-tense Ferguson, Shaw has been, until now, a relatively calm area — in fact, the neighborhood had seen zero homicides this year. But this serenity was ruptured after Myers' shooting, when violent protests erupted in Shaw and lasted throughout the night.

Now, before we get ahead of ourselves, there are differences between Myers' case and that of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teen who was shot on August 9 by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson. Brown had no weapon, and had put his hands up — Myers, according to the police, fired the first shot. And Wilson was a cop on duty; Myer's killer was, technically, on a security job. Still, no one can ignore the parallels, and it seems absurd that this is the second time in two months that a black teenager has been killed by a police officer, and in the same region no less.

Only hours after Myers' shooting, protesters — using the hashtag #shawshooting on social media — gathered on the streets of Shaw. In a now familiar scene, these demonstrators held up their arms and shouted their "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" mantra, while opposite them stood a line of police officers. Though things reportedly turned violent, with cop cars being attacked and damaged, no one was arrested. Here are some photos of the dramatic night: