Rep. Cori Bush sparked controversy on Monday, May 20, after she marked the 28th birthday of Black Lives Matter martyr Mike Brown.
Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014, when the latter was called to a “stealing in progress”. Minutes later, Officer Wilson questioned two suspects who were walking in the middle of Canfield Drive, resulting in a struggle in which Brown reached through the window of the police car. Wilson then pursued Brown, who tried to grab his gun. Wilson then fired at least six shots resulting in Brown’s death in what a jury found entirely justified.
Less than 12 hours earlier, Brown had been involved in an incident in which he was alleged to have stolen a box of cigars from a store. Video surveillance footage shows Brown manhandling an individual outside the store premises during the incident.
Rep. Bush used what would have been Brown’s 28th birthday to introduce a new bill, for which she was quickly ‘community noted’ on X.
Users were also keen to point out the facts leading up to Brown’s death nearly a decade ago.
Officer Wilson was never charged in relation to Brown’s death, despite large-scale unrest in Ferguson in the aftermath of the shooting.
