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still, so many unanswered questions. why did a police officer kill an unarmed black teenager. is a militarized police force heightening the tension. attacking freedom of the press. and how can the community heal? a night of special coverage - "flashpoint ferguson" - the way forward. welcome back. i'm joeie chen from "america tonight", our al jazeera programme. also our colleague, my colleague, tony harris. this has been an interesting night. not only has there been a lot of news event... >> that's right. >>..relating to ferguson and the way forward, and we are looking for the way forward, but a lot of news event coming from outside the community. >> and we are, of course, keeping an eye on the streets of ferguson, missouri, florissant street , the shooting

death of michael brown. looking at west florissant, there are demonstrations and protesters. what is happening in ferguson is reverberating around the county, in new york there's a demonstration going on in support of michael brown and his family. we don't have pictures, but it's been tense for the last 20-30 minute. there was a demonstration in oklahoma, california, and we'll follow those pictures through the hour. >> we have seen that happening all over the country, it's reflected here in the ferguson area. we are at the command center, where we are keeping close watch and law enforcement seems to be low key. that is what happening, where things are quiet and ramping up through the course of the evening as the demonstrators have been out. they have been affected by the rain in the course of this evening, which has been considerable - stormy,

lightening, hard night with the weather. for the demonstrators on the road, on west florissant, the center of the demonstrations throughout 11 nights now since the death of michael brown. joining us out on the street on west florissant avenue is al jazeera correspondent robert ray, who has been keeping watch on things in the course of this evening. how are things stacking up now with the demonstrators, robert? >> hey, i think you nailed it on the head. the weather definitely took some of the demonstrators off the streets here. there's about 100 or so that go up or down as we report throughout the night. everything, so far, is peaceful. again, moment to moment. new information that we learnt - pretty interesting, actually. the police officer, 28-year-old darren wilson, who shot michael brown 11 days ago, you know, there was a protestor out in honour of him here tonight. she was holding a sign that

said, you know, she wanted to represent what is happening to him. two police officers flagged on each side. we talked to some protesters. producer david douglas did and they said "we were not happy with her out here. she wasn't out for long." the police took her in a squad car eventually, and took her away. they were protecting her for fear of retaliation on this protesters. that's a new one, haven't seen that are on the street. all is calm right now. really nothing to report here, but the fact that it's moment to moment. >> out on west florissant avenue, correspondent robert ray keeping watch on the demonstration down there. joining us at the command center is the leader of the n.a.a.c.p. officer pruitt, and is active in the n.a.a.c.p. across missouri.

you have been with us for several nights, but today you had the opportunity to hear from attorney general eric holder when he came to town. i know he met with a number of community leaders and michael brown's family, how did that go? >> he met with the family and after that he met with the kids, interacted with the kids and had ideas on how they feel, how it impacted with him. >> by "kids", do you mean little kids? >> teenagers, across the board, getting the feel for how it's impacting the community and getting their perspective. he indicated that he was surprised at how well aware they were of what was going on in the environment. he met with us. our discussions centered around where do we go from here. when all the cameras go, we have the process of rebuilding. he is prepared, he had people in his department in charge of that.

he had them there. we were able to start a conversation about what needs to happen next. that was a good thing. >> did he talk about this was the beginning of the civil rights investigation, and the developments that came out of the death of michael brown, and the protests after, did he talk about where that would go, and how complex that would be? >> he didn't talk about it in that detail, but he indicated that the access he had on the ground. they are the people with the most experience in dealing with matters of this nature. they had the most experience in litigating matters of this nature. he wanted to make sure that everyone understood the people with the most experience in ad's office is on the ground and is involved, and that we should have faith that they are serious about getting to the bottom line. >> could he make any promises in terms of what sort of response, in terms of law enforcement or what the federal government may

be able to bring to that? >> the one promise he was able to make is when all was said and done. they'd bring resources into the community, they look at the patterns of policing in the community, and that he's looking for models to come out of what happens here, that they can replicate across the country. >> did he give you a sense, by being here, that he is the president's representative on the issue, and is it important to see a high-profile figure on the ground? >> it was real important. he talked about the fact that the younger age on the new jersey highway, he was profiled. he talked about that experience and what it meant to him and how it impacted. for him to talk like that, he had reassured everybody that he knew exactly what it is that people are feeling, and with that being the case, he was prepared to deal with it on an ongoing basis. >> did he talk about his open

family. he has older children as well. >> they would be as susceptible as raising the profile as anyone else. he talked about the political process. he talked about participating in the political process and talked about a black aj and why president obama became president. >> we have an opportunity to go forward, that's what we are talking about "flashpoint ferguson," the way forward. officer pruitt, thank you for being with us again. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> one of the big questions in the nights since michael brown's death is contact between the local community and law enforcement, and the power of that force. law enforcement may be different and it was the images of a militarized law enforcement community shocking many in the first days of the crisis. "america tonight" correspondent

michael oku looked deeper into the question of militarization of law enforcement here and around the country and why that happened. >> a sight that sparked alarm and outrage from ferguson to oregon. scenes that in the words of some leader belong in a war zone, not suburban american seats. the st. louis county police came out in force to confront protesters, in military vehicles and combat gear, firing tear gas and rubber bullets. as the confrontations wore on, so, to, did criticism of the heavy-handed police response. president obama cautioning against excessive force. >> there's no excuse for police to use excessive force against protests, or to through protesters in gaol for exercising first amendment rights. >> with accusations that police

are making matters workings. governor jay nixon announced the state highway patrol would take over security. demonstrators improved. the events triggered a conversation about the militarization of police, and how suburban police departments like that get their hands on military-grade gear and why and how it was used if missouri. >> i don't know the training that the officers used in ferguson, but given the inappropriate ways in which they were acting or conducting themselves, i would say that they received poor training or they ignored the good training that they received some time ago, or they were given no training at all. >> linch studied the trend of militarization westbound law enforcement agencies saying it's not just of the equipment, but the nature of training that is worrying. one aspect that alarms us about

the militarization of policing is that we know that some civilian police units, swat units or special response teams - we know that they - some of them have been training with units of our special forces. and this is very disturbing because our special forces operate overseas in a theatre of battle. and they are not trained to deal with people who have constitutional rights, people who are protected by the constitution of the united states. their missions overseas are to feigned the enemy force and destroy them. i don't want them explaining to our civilian units how they conduct themselves overseas, because that is totally inappropriate for civilian policing. >> a recent study by the american still liberties union entitled war comes home, the excessive militarization of

policing found that of almost 800 raids, 7% were for an original purpose, like a hostage situation. 80% were to execute search warrants. >> it's believed that the first prominent police unit for special records and tactics for swat were established here in loss. initially consisting of 15 teams of four men each, the unit was comprised of volunteers within the l.a.p.d. an inspector initially named the platoon special weapons assault team. after popular protests it was rejected for sounding too much like a military unit. >> lynch argues military culture seeped into police departments nonetheless. a culture celebrated in videos like this, produced by athat markets equipment to s.w.a.t. teams. >> when you look at the culture

of the police departments. when you see some of the recruiting videos that they put on the websites, their officers are conducting themselves in an aggressive fashion, acting and dressing like soldiers. so this is becoming a part of the culture of american policing. >> a culture now under intense scrutiny. let's talk a bit more about all of this with cory, a former n.y.p.d. executive inspector. it's good to talk to us, joining us from new york city. i have to tell you it's pretty straightforward for me if you are militarizing police departments around the country, the gulf that in most cases exists between the public and police will get wider since we have been on the ground in ferguson. we have been told several times

of people talking at one another, and talking to one another, instead of talking to one another, what are your concerns about the friend militarizing police communicates across the country? >> i think that for the most part, if they militarize the police department. it should be structured - let's say in new york city, if they need a team, they should deploy the team. if you look at the big cities, and you see the outbreaks, you don't see them bringing out tanks, mp 5s, you only see them in the little municipalities, what should happen is the justice department should scrutinise departments that they are getting federal funding from, and making sure that they use this equipment in an appropriate manner. down there in ferguson, the way they rolled their tanks out, you would have thought i was looking at it like the mid west has become the old south.

i was waiting for the dogs and the waterholes to be deployed. it was inappropriate. you have to let people exercise their first amendments rights. we saw the agitation. look, how much do you think that fuel will be unrest. certainly we have been following the story of small groups of demonstrators who decided they wanted to step this thing up a bit. to what extent do you believe the images, and seeing the - you know, the officers rolling down the streets as mentioned in up-armoured vehicles added to the tension and the agitation that we witnessed over the last few nights certainly. >> i think it played a part. there was a second piece to it. the non-transparency coming out of the police department and the militarization on the streets, together with anyone taking control of the situation, it was a recipe for disaster, which is

what we have now. here we are, 11 days into this tragic incident. >> that's right. >> and we don't have a common effect. this is one of the worse things that has happened in america, in decades. >> the other thing we hear from young people here, and people in this town, leaders working with young people is that they are just afraid. they are cautious. they are wary of a police officer is coming around the corner. they tense up. we talked to people who have told us clearly that there are certain neighbourhoods in ferguson, where if you're driving your car, you take your hat off, you turn your music down, otherwise you have a great expectation that you're going to be stopped by the police. that culture has to change, doesn't it. >> it has to change. let me tell you, you name any

other community or ethnicity in america where you can find the n.a.a.c.p., police organizations, my law enforcement lines, and what to do if you are stopped by police. you would be hard pressed to find anyone in the neighbourhood. from the top, the president, the ag, we have to acknowledge there's a serious issue between the minorities and the police all around america. let's put it on the table and deal with it. we don't want another young man to die or a cop going to gaol, because their job is to preserve, protect life and property. these are split second decisions. i don't know how many shots, but he hit him six times, you know six shots, less than two seconds. these are split-second decisions. we have to learn to deal with the community we serve.

when you have a department of 53 people and three back officers in a community that is 70% black, someone should have acknowledged that the racial make-up of the police department is a problem. >> yes, and the citizens of this community have to be more active in the community and take responsibility for the community, get to the polls and effect change that way. cory, appreciate your time, a former nydd deputy request inspectors. as we go to break from ferguson, i want to show a you demonstration that has popped up in oakland, california, across the bridge from san francisco. as we look at the pictures from okay land, another protest is under way in the east village of new york. we are keeping an eye on activities on west florissant avenue.

we'll take a break and come back with our special coverage on "flashpoint ferguson." stuart! stuart! stuart! stuart! ♪ check it out. this my account thing. we can tweet directly toa comcast expert for help. or we can select a time for them to call us back. the future, right? ♪ this doesn't do it for you? [ doorbell rings, dog barks ] oh, that's what blows your mind -- the advanced technology of a doorbell..

[ male announcer ] tweet an expert and schedule a callback from any device. introducing the xfinity my account app. that's why i always choose the fastest intern.r slow. the fastest printer. the fastest lunch. turkey club. the fastest pencil sharpener. the fastest elevator. the fastest speed dial. the fastest office plant. so why wouldn't i choose the fastest wifi? i would. switch to comcast business internet and get the fastest wifi included. comcast business. built for business. >> i'm joie chen, i'm the host of america tonight, we're revolutionary because we're going back to doing best of storytelling. we have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we haven't heard before... i think al jazeera america is a watershed moment for american journalism

welcome back to al jazeera's coverage of "flashpoint ferguson," the way forward. so often when we see conflict, there's opportunities to learn, opportunities for one community to learn from another. we take a case in point going back to 1991. it's almost hard to believe that's how long ago it was after the arrest of the rodney king. that story from al jazeera correspondent jennifer london. >> reporter: ferguson, missouri, august 9th, michael brown, anunarmed black man is shot and killed by police. los angeles, california. mr ford, an unarmed black man is shot and killed by the police. protesters took to the streets. in ferguson, the protests turned violence, those in los angeles more peaceful. why? >> the leadership gets out in

front in l.a. as soon as something happens, there's press conferences, they are out there having marches, demonstrations. it's like people have an outlet here, whereas in ferguson, it's like the wild west. >> reporter: l.a. has been there before. april 29th, 1992, the acquittal of four police officers charged with savagely beating rodney king triggered explosive race riots. when it was over 53 were dead. 2,000 injured, more than 1,000 buildings destroyed by fire. irwin small is the owner of this auto body shop located near the flashpoint of the l.a. riots. he and six others stayed to protect the business. he doesn't want to go on camera, saying he worked hard to forget those days, and moving on. he says he has seen a change in the attitude of the neighbourhood and the l.a.p.d. - a change for the better.

mother and daughter harriet martin and her daughter lived through the riot. since those terrible days, the city has learnt a lessen, they say. >> we learnt we burnt up our city. >> what do you think the police learnt? >> how to handle things differently. >> in the 22 years since the l.a. race riots, the l.a.p.d. is a different force. nonwhite officers make up 64% of the department, compared to 41% in 1992. there's community policing and a civilian police commission. two days after, the police met with residents. >> the first thing i asked for was witnesses in that neighbourhood that may have seen anything. >> while the residents say there's a lack of trust and racial scrim in addition... >> -- discrimination.

>> we keep getting shot by the police. >> reporter: at least in los angeles, the two sides are talking. jennifer london's report reminds us that the pain is shared in so many communities all across the nation where there is conflict, where law enforcement is challenged for its role in creating conflict with the community. joining us now, an actor and an activist, speaking, in a way, from outside the community, but shares its pain as well. we appreciate you joining us from new york. talk to us about whether your situation, whether you can experience something and underor relate it to what is happening in the ferguson community. >> yes, i can. i'm a blackmail in america, and so it's relevant to me, but not just to black men. i think it's a sign of the ills of this country, what it suffers from, the structural change that we are reluctant to address. i relate to it, to the rage, the

pain, and the need to want to do something to challenge something. >> we are seeing the response in protests, to even in this evening we are seeing protests not only ear in the ferguson area, but from the east village in new york, where you are, all the way up to california, and oakland. and i wonder about it resonating. it doesn't have to be in the cities, but you see the same thing happening down in ferguson, where you have a small community, a small police force as well. >> there's a solidarity that has been expressed around the country, and i would say around the world there are images of palestinians who have reached out to say that they stand in solidarity of brothers and 15 of ferguson. there's an undercurrent that many address. the lid has been taken off. whether there'll be change,

that's another conversation. i'm glad to see people in california standing up. it does affect us all. it's not just black men. i mean, these ills affect - if you are a little white girl in arkansas, if a black man is shot in ferguson, missouri, it should affect you, because we are in this country together. >> what is, though, the most effective form of activism. we see folks in the streets, in the other communities. there is sometimes criticism of protests that take place. what is, in the modern world when we look at digital protest, what is the most effective way to have the protest. that is an important question, very difficult. it's difficult to criticise the way people protest. people should just get involved any way they can.

everyone conserves a role. not everybody goes out in the streets and rages from twitter. i think it's important to get involved. i also thing that it's one thing to be on social media and talk about something, but for-profit media definitely disturbs the public, but it's important to take the messages on social media to the streets, to washington, and get active. as far as what is the most effective way, whatever ways mobilized or demobilized populous is the best way. we served different rolls. >> we appreciate you joining us, an actor, activist, sharing the same sentiments and activism. that we are seeing taking place

here in ferguson. the ferguson community and this cities coast to coast. appreciate you being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> we'll take a short break in the continuing coverage in ferguson, missouri, and the surrounding area outside st louis. back with more after this.

[ chants ] [ explosion ] >> announcer: violence grips an american suburb. a community in crisis, a deep racial divide. a wall of silence in missouri - still, so many unanswered questions. [ chants ] >> announcer: why did a police officer kill an unarmed black teenager? is a militarized police force heightening the tension? attacking freedom of the press,

and how can the community heal? a night of special coverage "flashpoint ferguson - the way forward." welcome back to al jazeera america's special coverage, "flashpoint ferguson," and the way forward. i'm joeie chen with my colleague and friend tony harris. you know what, it is important for us to look at is ahead. so much of this community wants to do that. they don't want to be bogged down. >> that's right, it is so true. we spent time - great point. it helps me get to a ride along with a city manager of a community north of ferguson. max, the city manager. that is a community. not many people know the story, that is a community where there was a lot of vandalism and looting and the city manager talked about how to move forward. dell wood and ferguson working

together, finishing a joint presented, and in the week that was, right, here in ferguson they had been talking about other projects they could do toot. moving forward, i think what you see between the two small communities, neighbourhood communities side by side is a renewed effort to work together for the betterment of the ferguson community. it was terrific to talk to him. we'll run more of it tomorrow when we have a bit more time. a terrific conversation we have. separate to the looting saturday, sunday and monday night of last week and that week. >> it's an unusual territory, because st louis county. there's st louis city and st louis county, and this is the north county area. the st louis country incorporates more than 90 municipalities. each one developed as their own

area. as to the complexity, working together, and creating a unity of purpose. >> that is not something you understand unless you spend time here. i know you and your team got here yesterday picking up on the complexities of the area, and the dynamics. we are also, as we watched the night unfold. we believe it's been calm here in ferguson. we want to check in with robert ray to be sure of that, give us a sense of the mood and what is happening on the streets, quarter of a mile, half a mile from where we are. [ chants ] >> you know, as we talked about half hour ago, there has been about 150 more protesters coming up about the streets. still peace. but more people coming up to the streets. not everybody here in ferguson

is demonstrating every night. earlier today we talked to a couple who lives a couple of blocks away. let's have a listen. >> reporter: the patch of pavement where michael brown took his last breath are two blocks from a quiet street where we met a bi-racial ferguson couple who have not been protesting. they are among many who have not taken to the streets. their voices have not been heard much in the days since brown was killed. this husband and father of three worries about retaliation, so he doesn't want to show his face. >> i fear for the family. basically the protesters are in the neighbourhood. >> he says the anger that boiled over is misplaced. >> we are mad at the cop. we should have been standing in

front of ferguson police station "what are y'all going to do about what happened?" >> we have nowhere to go. now we have to go miles and miles to get gas. [ chanting ] >> reporter: they are hopeful there'll be change, and say the community should wait until the review on michael brown is complete. like many others, they feel not everyone was treated equally by the police. what you are saying there was police profiling in the community of ferguson. if they are black, you'll be treated differently by the police. >> automatically. if you see me causing a disturbance, stop me. if i'm just walking, minding my own business, beep your horn and

wave because i ain't doing nothing wrong. >> tony, remember about midnight, eastern standard time, that that is when the protesters got a little feisty, and we had a couple of situations. where i was standing there were some police officers that came in, the semiautomatics, telling people to disappears. amnesty international observers walked up here as the crowd is continuing to increase. things are peaceful, nothing bad is happening. i think as a precaution, the guys walked up and will monitor what happens here in the next few hours as we go into the midnight hour. >> if you would, keep an eye on that. if anything develops we'll get back to you. the eyes of the world obviously are on what is happening in ferguson, and the young people are watching what happened here

as well. they have been impacted by the advance here since august 9th and the shooting death of michael brown. schools were supposed to be opened last week, last thursday. as things stand schools may open on monday. the events here, again, rippling through this community, having an impact on parents, kids and what do parents say to their kids about what's happened here? we have more on the impact of the event in ferguson on kids and the parents trying to teach them. >> reporter:. >> reporter: at jessica williams house mum has more help unloading the groceries. school is closed. 12-year-old walter stayed home and schooled his baby sister. >> i taught her abcs, and 123s.

>> his family lives in jennings, where, like ferguson, administrators shut school on monday and tuesday. >> their education is important. i feel there's not a bunch of stuff going on, during the day for the kids not to be in school is unacceptable. >> no school allowed williams family to stay up during monday night's protest and spent several nights getting involved. >> i heard cursing. i saw al-sharp tonne. i heard martin, everything that can possibly go on in a world. >> how did you decide to take your kids to the protest. >> i wanted them to see how it really is, and just because it was on it, it wasn't fake. i want them to see that this is really happening. st louis, we are making history. i want my kids to know that this is real, we need to stand for justice for everyone. >> walt are says he's learning a

lot after dark, but is anxious to go backs to class. >> i missed science and maths and my friend. >> some of the people are people that have just called in. >> walter's superintendent dr tiffany anderson brought her staff to florissant avenue to help clean up after the protests she's preparing them to bring the students back, knowing there'll be questions when they come back. >> there's many avenues to talk to the kids, it's the prisons approximatelies, the kust odians - we are trying to show kids we are a life line. >> do you have a plan to bring this into the lesson plan, or how do you plan to bring it up in the classroom all the time. >> we try to be proactive. you should bring up the hard

conversations about bias and equity and all the isms, and racism and homophobia. we talk about that in the classroom, we don't shy away from it. >> the plan is for anderson's district to reopen. >> we need to establish our routines and normalcy. i think that we will set aside time to talk about this. and, you know, they'll bring it up, i'll bring it up. i'll read f, i'll write about it and we'll discuss. >> i feel it should be a topic or discussion to where they talk to about what is going on, and how do they feel about the situation, because behind this a lot kids may need counselling. it's hard to adapt to the situation. these kids are squared. >> williams says she -- scared.

>> williams says she wants her children to learn constantly, she want her town to learn lessons too. >> what is your hope for the community? >> i hope for a changed community all around, within the community, police department and people. people coming together as one, not just stop killing each other too. >> probably important to take a moment and remember at the center of all of this is the story of the death of an 18-year-old unarmed black man. paul beban has more on michael brown. >> reporter: big mike is what friends and family called him, a burley good natured young man with an easy smile. >> any problems going on, any situation, there wasn't nothing he couldn't solve to bring people back together. he was a good boy. he didn't deserve none of this. >> brown had dreams of becoming a rapper and was on his way to college. the 18-year-old was supposed to start classes this week.

>> he didn't bother nobody. my son turned 18 and graduated from high school. >> this family never said that michael brown junior was a perfect kid. i anticipate you may see bs a attorney parks stated, other images or photographs or pictures that don't paint him in a complimentary light. >> reporter: the family says surveillance video that appears to show him robbing a store doesn't show the whole story. they accuse the police of character asass face. michael brown was unarmed when shot by darren wilson. police say there was a shuffle. pj crenshaw said she took the shots. he's rubbing this way: hands in the -- running this way. hands in the area, being compliant. he is shot in the face and chef.

>> it wasn't long since longstanding tensions boiled over in the st louis suburb. relatives say violence is the last thing brown would have wanted. they might have wanted it and don't allow it to happen. >> brown's son was visiting the grandmother on the way back to the store when his life came to an end on a weekend afternoon. >> you not god. you don't decide when to takiun. that belongs to me. >> welcome back, everyone, i'm joined by maleek, executive director for black lawyers for justice and has been on the ground in ferguson for about a week now, yes. >> yes, sir, nine days. >> give me your thoughts and reflections - nine days on the ground here, august 9th is when this happened. i know you have been organising, talking to people. give me your thoughts and

reflections to what they said in. >> i'm impressed with the tenacity of the youth and our people and their fight for justice day in, day out. point for point, the fight for justice. i admire them. i'm here to support them. i same to do a legal investigation. i got into making sure the women and children were not hurt in confrontations. when i got here, the militarized police were out of control. >> what did you do in yourest to ensure women and children and young people were not the next victims. first of all, and good faith i went to the commanders getting them to adjust the tactics. then i filed a cease and disift notice on the police chief and the may or, charging them with

violating the constitutional rights of people standing on the side walk. and then a break came, and they pulled the police back. the ferguson police off the case. other times i got out in the crowds when there was no leadership, no one to help direct. people were milling around, and looked like a prescription for disaster. so i added focus and clarity. other times i saved people's lives. >> how did you do that? what were the circumstances. the the circumstances - just the other night, because of the heavily militarized vehicles and gas asks and the military presence provides a flashpoint. the crowd comes up against it, one or two appearance want to charge the lines and the men come out with their guns. i jumped in the middle and risked my life to help the people to keep the peep away from destruction and disaster,

and keep them marching in a disciplined fashion. >> we are talking about moving forward. looks like there's a bit of momentum building from last night. i don't know what role the weather is playing. we are talking about a calmer night on the heels of last night. what are your thoughts about mogg forward and healing. people will tell you about the demonstrations. there wasn't enough work done in the communities. the conversations that needed to be had were not held. what were the conversations about communities around this neighbourhood or area. how did they move forward. there's a cry saying no justice, no peace. we are nowhere near the arrest for prosecution of officer karen wilson. the community or the murder of michael brown has not been

solved. the issue of the police brutality and our men and youth have not been sold. you can't expect - i have not seen this many day after day in any city i have gone in. the fact that they do it, they get credit for it, i don't say it's at a point where everything will calm down and we'll sing kumbaya. it's a temporary low. the crowd will get bigger and stronger. >> before i let you go, i know that you said you were doing legal work here, and i know this there's something that you are set to announce here tonight. >> yes. >> tell me about it. >> i want to be the first to anuns it on al jazeera. on friday, at the u.s. district federal court house in the eastern district of missouri black lawyers for justice, on behalf of the victims of the first initial days when the

ferguson police department, the militarized police forces, when they were running up on women children and helders, gassing them, arresting them, throwing them into gaol were filing a class action lawsuit on their behalf. to violate the constitutional rights. it is not just darren wilson and michael brown, but they will make plane that a systematic back pattern of discrimination in the police department. and that's why this think blew up. >> maleek, you'll give me the filing tonight, before you leave. >> we are working on the filing. we will release the filing on friday at 12 into. we'll be the first to get it. >> appreciate it. thank you for your time. we wanted to get you on the programme. glad to have you on the programme. we'll take a break and come back in a moment.

welcome back to al jazeera's continuing coverage, a special night of coverage on "flashpoint ferguson," and the way forward.

so much of the events of the day's since michael brown's death have been played out in social media. an important critic and server of the culture of the digital world is jamilla, joining us if new york, speaking to us about the circumstances on digital media. if you can talk about what has played out. really, the images have happened more in the digital world than the traditional media world over the last few days. >> absolutely. on social media you have action to the information coming in from traditional reporters and major outlets, you have activists, citizens, people on the ground sharing images, who are debunking some of the information that we received through the media, and local police representatives, and were able to, you know, share information, commiserate, strategi

strategise, find kinship. >> not only bring images, but, really, emotion - personal emotion and stories through the social media. >> absolutely, these are difficult times, whether you are in ferguson or had the opportunity to go to ferg or, or watching it -- ferguson or watching it through your living room. many of us need someone to watch it now. families are not paying attention in the way that you are. finding people struggling with the emotions in the same way that you are. even tonight they are continuing to be demonstrations out on west florissant, the main drag of the demonstrators throughout the conflict. also we have seen protests happening in new york and out to california and communities in between. this speaks to a shared sense of emotion, and that is what is

happening in the social media environment. we also want to know activity at the command center. i suspect you'll see some images coming back from west florissant, but it's real time following of what is happening that we can only get through some of the environment. we had the opportunities to go to ferguson this weekend, and i had seen it first hand and i'll return tomorrow. the difference in what my ability to translate the information on social media versus before i wept, social media is giving me a great up close and personnel look in a way that from the best intention news media. and news organizations are working with social media. some organizations have been able to - around some stations,

and there's a bias, agenda, what have you - you all, and some of your colleagues have done to reach your fewers, and how to connect with you and people in ferguson. >> that is one of the things we are encouraging, and we want to hear from the audience, particularly through twitter from the hashtag. that is a campaign we have and we would like to know what the community thinks, what images the community would like to portray before they begin the social rights. he's a keep observer and we appreciate you being here. my colleague tony harris is with us as we wrap up this hour. >> it's been another quieter

evening on the streets in ferguson, missouri. we hope it stays that way through the small hours of the morning. a louder evening in new york, at the east village, and oakland. as we leave you we'll show you some images during the last 12 days. it's been a pleasure to be with you. >> we'll cover a special coverage... >> he put his hands in the air, started to get down, and the officer fired shots. my friend died.

. >> we have a race problem here that needs to be addressed. . >> in the city of ferguson, they are firing. [ chants ] >> there is never an excuse for violence against the police. >> i'm not afraid to protest. i'm ready to lay my life on the line for this one. i'm not afraid to go out and focus. >> the officer involved in the shooting of michael brown was darren wilson. [ chants ] . >> this is a test. the eyes of the world are

watching. >> we had a subject in the middle of the road with a handgun. we had a police car shot at, yes, i think that was the proper response. . >> if verifies that the witness accounts were true. >> giving in to the anger by looting or carrying guns, and attacking the police deserves to raise tensions and stir chaos. >> don't go there, there'll be no peace. no justice, no peace.

>> hundreds of days in detention. >> al jazeera rejects all the charges and demands immediate release. >> thousands calling for their freedom. >> it's a clear violation of their human rights. >> we have strongly urged the government to release those journalists. >> journalism is not a crime. >> i'm joie chen, i'm the host of america tonight, we're revolutionary because we're going back to doing best of storytelling. we have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we haven't heard before... i think al jazeera america is a watershed moment for american journalism real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories.

>> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> and welcome back. we are once again at the command center here, near ferguson, missouri where law enforcement is getting ready for yet another night where they will be watching and seeing exactly what demonstrators do to keep things under control. i'm joie chen. harris. coverage. there are so many developments and we're watching closely to see what the night ahead brings tony. >> we are, this is one of the

more important night