2014

Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed by Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson on Canfield Drive. Brown was unarmed. His body lay in the street for four hours. The killing triggered weeks of protests in Ferguson and nationally, militarized police responses, and a DOJ investigation that found Ferguson's police and courts operated as a system of racial extraction.

Following the killing of Michael Brown, Ferguson, Missouri erupted in sustained protests. Militarized police responses — armored vehicles, tear gas, rubber bullets — drew international condemnation. Organizers and activists converged from across the country. The uprising catalyzed a new generation of Black Lives Matter organizing and prompted the DOJ's landmark investigation into Ferguson's police department.

Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed by Ferguson, MO officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014. Brown was unarmed. His body lay in the street for 4.5 hours in the August heat. Protests erupted in Ferguson; police responded with militarized equipment including MRAPs, targeting journalists. A grand jury declined to indict Wilson in November 2014. A DOJ civil rights investigation found the Ferguson Police Department operated as a revenue-generating operation, systematically targeting Black residents with fines and fees; 85% of stops were of Black residents in a 67% Black city. The Ferguson uprising accelerated the Black Lives Matter movement.

A St. Louis County grand jury announced it would not indict Officer Darren Wilson in the killing of Michael Brown. The announcement triggered protests in Ferguson and cities across the United States. The DOJ later cleared Wilson of civil rights charges but issued a scathing report documenting Ferguson's pattern of discriminatory policing and unconstitutional municipal court practices.

On December 3, 2014, a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, who died after Pantaleo placed him in a chokehold during an arrest for selling loose cigarettes on July 17, 2014. Garner's final words — 'I can't breathe,' repeated 11 times — became a protest rallying cry. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. The NYPD's chokehold ban had been in place since 1993. A federal civil rights investigation was opened; the DOJ under Trump declined to charge Pantaleo in 2019. Pantaleo was fired in August 2019 following an NYPD disciplinary trial.

A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, who died after Pantaleo placed him in a chokehold during an arrest for selling loose cigarettes on July 17, 2014. Garner's final words — 'I can't breathe,' repeated 11 times — became a protest rallying cry. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. Pantaleo was fired in August 2019 following an NYPD disciplinary trial.

A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, despite video footage and a medical examiner's ruling of homicide. The decision triggered mass protests and die-ins nationwide. Pantaleo remained on the force until 2019.

A Staten Island grand jury declined to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, despite video footage of the incident and a medical examiner's ruling of homicide. The decision triggered mass protests nationwide, including die-ins in which demonstrators chanted 'I can't breathe.' Pantaleo remained on the force until 2019.

New York City settled with the Central Park Five — Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, and Yusef Salaam — for approximately $41 million on June 19, 2014. The five Black and Latino teenagers had been wrongfully convicted in 1990 of the rape of a jogger in Central Park following coerced confessions extracted during interrogations lasting up to 30 hours without their parents present. They served 6–13 years before being exonerated in 2002 when the actual perpetrator, Matias Reyes, confessed and DNA evidence confirmed. Donald Trump had taken out full-page newspaper ads calling for their execution in 1989.

John Crawford III, 22, was shot and killed by Beavercreek, Ohio police in a Walmart while holding an unpackaged BB gun taken from a store shelf. A 911 caller, Ronald Ritchie, falsely reported Crawford as pointing a weapon at people. Surveillance video contradicted the officers' accounts. A grand jury declined to indict the officers. The DOJ declined to bring federal charges in 2015.

Detroit began mass water shutoffs in 2014, ultimately disconnecting over 25,000 households — predominantly Black — for non-payment. UN human rights experts called the shutoffs a 'violation of the human right to water.' Baltimore similarly shut off water to tens of thousands of households in the 2010s, with Black neighborhoods most affected. In both cities, water rate increases were driven by decades of deferred infrastructure maintenance and privatization pressures. COVID-19 temporarily halted shutoffs under federal law, but they resumed after relief ended. The shutoffs concentrated in communities that had faced disinvestment, were less able to afford rate increases, and had the least political power to resist.

Detroit began mass water shutoffs in 2014, ultimately disconnecting over 25,000 households — predominantly Black — for non-payment. UN human rights experts called the shutoffs a 'violation of the human right to water.' Baltimore similarly shut off water to tens of thousands of households. COVID-19 temporarily halted shutoffs but they resumed after relief ended.

Detroit began mass water shutoffs in 2014, ultimately disconnecting over 25,000 households, predominantly Black, for non-payment. UN human rights experts called the shutoffs a violation of the human right to water. Baltimore similarly shut off water to tens of thousands of households. COVID-19 temporarily halted shutoffs but they resumed after relief ended.

On December 17, 2014, a South Carolina judge exonerated George Stinney Jr., a 14-year-old Black boy executed in 1944 for the murders of two white girls — the youngest person executed in the U.S. in the 20th century. The judge found Stinney had not received a fair trial: he had no meaningful legal representation, his 'confession' was coerced without parents present, and the all-white jury deliberated for 10 minutes. The case, revisited in the modern era, became a touchstone for discussions of wrongful convictions, juvenile justice, and racial terror masquerading as law.

A South Carolina judge exonerated George Stinney Jr., a 14-year-old Black boy executed in 1944 — the youngest person executed in the U.S. in the 20th century. The judge found Stinney had not received a fair trial: he had no meaningful legal representation, his confession was coerced without parents present, and the all-white jury deliberated for 10 minutes. The case became a touchstone for discussions of wrongful convictions and racial terror masquerading as law.

The police killing of Michael Brown sparks sustained protest and a national reckoning on policing.

"I can't breathe" becomes a rallying cry after Garner's death in police custody.

A 12-year-old is shot by Cleveland police within seconds.