zoo who has lived long enough to sell ambulate a first birthday. happy birthday to you. thank you for joining us. ism richelle carey. stay tuned, fault lines, a city under siege coming up now. "fa city under siege" [ explosion ] ferguson, missouri - the spark for what would become daily street protests was the kit killing of an unarmed african-american teenager. 18-year-old michael brown was gunned down by a white police officer. in the days that followed police responded to the demonstrations with massive force.

>> we are sick of being tear gassed and shot at. all the young people deserve justice. >> we will shot, kill if necessary. >> an autopsy will show that brown was shot six times, twice in the head. he was the fourth unarmed black man to be killed in the united states by police in the span of a month. street protests and police tactics brought ferguson into the national and international spotlight. things spiralled. reports of gunshots fired from the crowd. a state of emergency was declared. a national guard was deployed, and the u.s. attorney-general launched an investigation. "faultlines" was in ferguson to see how this sparked something bigger, something that had been below the surface for years. >> on your knees.

>> hands up. [ gunfire ] >> this is more than michael brown. this is about civilians against corrupt law enforcement. [ chanting ] this is the area ferguson's residents are calling ground zero, the epicentre of the protests. [ chanting ] when we arrived it was the fourth day in a row that people were marching along the street, a few blocks from where michael brown was shot. [ chanting ] the police had still not released the name of the officer involved, and people were angry. mistrust of the police here runs deep. more than 60% of ferguson's residents are black, 50 out of

53 police officers are white. african-americans account for nearly 90% of police stops, searches and arrests. the demonstrators made it clear they'd remain peaceful and requested the police to do the same. >> we are not out here to start trouble. >> that's right. >> please don't harass us. >> all: sit down for michael brown. for no reason that we could see, the mood shifted quickly. >> police department. you must continue moving down west florissant. >> reporter: so the police are now bringing out heavy armoured vehicles. it's an armoured truck, something designed for basically conflict zones, for places like iraq and afghanistan. this is an extraordinary display of force to be honest. i mean, these guys - there's more riot police behind them,

it's a crowd of a few hundred people that have been peaceful. the guys on tonne of this vehicle are training high powered weapons on the crowd. police refused to explain why they needed such heavy weaponry. >> reporter: sir, do you know why they are bringing this equipment in? >> you need to move back. >> reporter: do you know why they are bringing in armoured vehicles. >> we are from here. [ chanting ] it wasn't hard to see why the crowd would see the police presence as anything other than inflammatory. >> would you like an armed machine-gun pointed at your kid? they are provoking. do you see any violence occurring right now. it's peaceful. they don't have to be here. >> reporter: has it been like this the last few days? >> it's been like this for years, for years. >> reporter: this kind of

policing. >> yes, it's been like this from years. from birth, in st louis. many people had come from surrounding black communities in the st louis area. all of them said they feel targeted by law enforcement. >> they've been doing this. they getting away with it. why are things different now with michael brown. >> the people tired. [ chants ] . all: put the killer cops in gaol. the whole damn system. hands up, don't is shoot. hands up, don't shoot. hands up don't shoot the police continued to point guns at the protesters. up to this point, as far as we could see, there'd been no sign of threat or violence, but the anger over the way police were handling the situation grew.

>> reporter: we are hearing gas fired - police are saying we have to leave the area. we are getting back from the police line. there's gas coming down, there's more gas over here. we're going to get over here now. they are firing cannes terse of gas at us as we run away. >> announcer: you must return to your vehicles and your homes, you may no longer be in the area. it's no longer a peaceful process. you are not peacefully assembling. you must leave or be subject to arrest. >> where i come from, it is about the children. seeing my children get killed. every footage i saw of trayvon martin or michael brown reminded me of my son. that could have been my child. >> they treat us like animals. >> reporter: what do you mean? >> they break us down.

>> it's about us not feeling like criminals just for driving down the street. >> we always guilty. >> here it is, this is marshall law. why are you advancing towards a peaceful protest? that means you are trying to insight urban warfare out here. they are trained for this >> reporter: why do you think they started firing gas? >> they are trying to get us to start a riot, they are encroaching on our first amendment rights. [ chants ] [ singing ] >>reporter: you can hear the noise. police are using an audio instrument to try to disperse the crowd. this is a crowd control tool. you can see the protesters are still in the streets ag they will not go anywhere.

[ explosion ] >>reporter: seems like they are firing flash bombs, we are not sure what the police are firing. there's gas coming down here - we are going to get out of here. [ explosion ] in a matter of hours the streets of ferguson had gone from peaceful protests and calls for justice to scenes out of a conflict zone. [ explosion ] >>reporter: there's a line of police advancing towards the crowd. tear gas is everywhere, explosions from flash-bang grenades - another going off now. as the military vehicles advance, rubber bullets were fired. anyone on the streets, including media, was in the line of fire. the police began to fan out into

the surrounding neighbourhoods with weapons pointed at people's homes. >> looks like they are firing tear gas into the neighbourhood. you can see the plume of smoke. i have no idea what they are firing at. [ chanting ] as night turned to early morning, it became clear that divisions in ferguson were growing deeper. [ chants ] . all: hand up, don't shoot.

>> in this envelope is my life right now... >> edge of eighteen only on al jazeera america

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. >> fault lines labor day marathon the true cost of cheap labor >> nothing can be worse than this people burnt to ash... >> horrendous conditions... traffic labor on us bases... management stealing wages... exploited children put to work... >> how many of you get up at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning to go out to the fields?

don't miss our award winning series fault lines labor day marathon only on al jazeera america [ ♪ music michael brown's killing had sparked the worst civil unrest this part of missouri had scene in recent memory. now it was getting attention from washington. >> i made clear to the attorney-general we should do whatever is necessary to determine exactly what happened and see that justice was done. i also spoke with governor jay nixon, and expressed my concern over the violent turn that event have taken, and it's time for all of us to find a way to come together going forward. he will travel to ferguson.

after days of staying silent, missouri's governor showed up in ferguson, promising changes. >> today i am announcing that the missouri highway patrol under the supervision of walter johnson who grew up in the area will head the team. >> reporter: how do you explain the preference of what we saw on the streets? there were armoured personnel carriers, about 100 police in military-style uniforms, high-powered rifles trained on the crowd? i mean, who is in charge of making those decisions and mr they be healld to account in. >> that was yesterday, tomorrow's tomorrow, tonight is tonight. >> i appreciate the responsibility ... looking forward a new face of command, captain ron johnson,

who was born in the community. the scene together was different. there seemed to be fewer police, those there walked the streets with the protesters. the change in approach seemed to lift the mood. but that atmosphere was short lived. the next morning ferguson's police chief announced the name of darren wilson, the officer who had killed michael brown. almost in the same breath, he also released this video footage. it allegedly showed brown stealing sig areas from a convenience for in an unrelated incident. his grieving family was incensed. the motives for releasing the video, and its timing was questioned. >> did he know he was a suspect in a case or not?

>> you say you were concerned by our safety but you may have been only concerned by your safety. >> i'll read a statement. michael brown's family is disappointed in the way material has been delivered piecemeal. >> we have given everything we can give you. from our police department you have everything we have got. there's nothing else i can give you. >> reporter: the timing of the release of the video. michael brown's family healed an impromptu press conference in response. >> this is something people do to defer the attention from what the real problem is. >> condemning what they branded as an attempt to criminalize him and justify the officer's actions. >> whatever took place there had nothing to do with the individual getting down on his hands and knees, raising his hands in the air and saying "don't shoot." this is a universal call for "i

surrender", and i can hear my cousins voice right now as i speak saying "don't shoot." down at ground zero, later that evening, news of the video spread. people were angry. but instead of trying to diffuse the tension, the armoured vehicles were out once again. it didn't take long before things started to happen. soon a small group started smashing store windows. >> okay. there's looting starting now. people have broken in. okay. okay. let's get out of here. but then another group of young men moved in to stop the

looting. >> reporter: why are you standing here? >> to take care of the store. >> there's a group there, a group there, and a group there. we are stopping them going into the store. >> they going to burn. >> stop. >> for these protesters, this was no question who was to blame for what was happening in ferguson. >> the city puts these people down. i'm harassed daily. it's hard as the - they go on every day for people, including myself, including a lot of these black males, where you feel like a target, you have to react. that's the real... >> so the guys protecting the convenience store are saying that they blame the police for inflaming the situation, appearing in this manner in the riot gear, and that's the reason why people get angry, loot stores. we'll speak to the police and

ask why are they deployed like this after everything that happened. media, who is in charge here? >> what do you need? >> reporter: who is the commanding officer? >> what do you need. >> reporter: i need to speak to the commanding officer. >> stay here. >> reporter: are you the commanding officer? >> no, but we need you to get to a safe place. >> reporter: we have been spending time with the crowd and we want to know why the armoured vehicles... >> we are trying to maintain. >> reporter: but why is the reason for... >> we are done talking, you need to go back to where you've come from. we are down talking. >> reporter: is there a commanding officer. is there a media contact. >> no. >> reporter: there's no media representative here at all

the state promised a different response, but the militarized response was back, and no one could tell us why. meanwhile, down the street the police advanced on the protesters. >> stay back. the looting stopped, but it seemed like anger and distrust were growing once again. >> did you hear about the first rights? >> yes. >> what do you think. it was an outcry. that is pure emotion. these kids have no outlet. you want another truce. talk to the oppressed.

it's a victim detection radar. >> that could save your life. >> as long as your heart is beating, we can detect you. >> "tech know". every saturday, go where science meets humanity. >> this is some of the best driving i've ever done... even though i can't see! >> "tech know". >> we're here in the vortex. >> next, only on al jazeera america.

during the protests on the streets of ferguson, we met miller, ronald and solomon. they had been out demonstrating every night since the shooting. they are from northern st louis county, an area including ferguson, and predominanty african-american. >> reporter: so tell us a bit about the neighbourhood? >> it's families. i know the family, we grew up over here. >> reporter: you grew up over here. >> yes. >> reporter: what kind of a neighbourhood is it? >> it used to be a nice

neighbourhood many years ago, until we were forgotten about. >> anger and frustration at the police ran deep. >> they harass. they treat you like you don't belong. >> who do. >> there's two strikes, black and males. all we have to do is miss a blinker and we are stressed in the middle of the street. >> reporter: that's what people say, two strikes. >> you make a face at a cop, you going to gaol. >> reporter: it's not just a perception of unfair treatment. >> they have no cultural connection to police officers. adoltphis pruitt is head of a chapter that filed a civil rights complaint against the police for disproportionately targetting blacks. >> a young black kid lives in an urban area. when he leaves the house, going for a walk, work, school, he

stopped by police, to be questioned, he has to produce identification, ran through the system to see if he has warrants. and at the end of that they say "you can go ahead. >> in some cases it happens for no reason. that's what is festering the problem we have. >> even if they avoid the police, the young men have other odds stacked against them. the unemployment rate for african-americans in this county is three times that of whites. >> st louis is probably one of the most segregated communities in the country. both racially and socioeconomically. as african-americans move in, whites move out. what happens also with that is some of the highest paying jobs, some of the best living conditions go with them. among black males aged between 16 and 24, the

unemployment rate has reached nearly 50%. >> coming back to lose hope. what do we have to bank on after school. >> i went to challenge to be a medical assistant. they found i had a felony, guess what happened. i spent $20,000 for nothing. i get my hands dirty working on cars now. >> reporter: how does that make you feel? >> like a bag of... ..what am i supposed do do. >> reporter: does that make you angry? >> hell, yes. >> reporter: so when people talk about the anger that they feel, it's not just about law enforcement. it's about - it's about life in general. >> yes. some people want to roll over and take it. we have an older generation saying "don't talk to the police like that." stuff like that. crazy. she say "just be quite", we are

like "we are having the freedom of speech." why is mine modified? what happened? >> reporter: long time community activists is saying the underlying discontent is the same that fuelled protests in the '60s. >> you have someone that can't find a job, that has been marginalised in society, and 3-4 times a week you are hassled by the police. how much can a young person stand who doesn't have the tools to deal with this stuff. sometimes it comes out raw. then you have the response of a police department to a community's natural organic reaction to what happened. what do they get? they get a militarized police force. that has to do with systematic racial images. >> the ferguson police department declined requests for an interview. >> this is it bigger than

michael brown, and bigger than trayvon martin, and making sure it's not happening again. >> don't throw a bone and think you can get away with my daughter or son. it should have never happened. >> this is a defining moment in this town. michael brown junior will be a defining moment on how this country deals with policing and the rights of its citizens to redress how police behave in this county. [ clapping ] after a week of boiling tensions in ferguson. more than 1,000 people came together sunday morning for a moment of unity and prayer. [ cheering and applause ]

>> just know that this was their child. and they loved their child. they had every right for their child to have due process of the law. [ cheering and applause ] >> we are going to talk about justice. [ cheering and applause ] >> we are going to talk about standing up for our children. [ cheering and applause ] >> because if we don't stand up for our children, nobody will stand up for our children. [ cheering and applause ]. >> we have had enough. [ cheering and applause ]. >> had enough. had enough. while the mood here was hopeful, the images from ferguson at night remained the same. armoured vehicles and military uniforms continued to respond to the protests. law enforcement began to coral the media behind police tape.

>> we would be arrested as journalists if we go outside the zone. >> they are going to make a decision on what you do. that's a curfew zone. in the days that followed and the days that will come, whether the street protests die down or intensify again, the underlying message from this community is unlikely to change. that this was bigger than michael brown. it was about a fight to change the system that is stacked against them from birth. >> michael brown is a foundation for this, he is one of the pieces of the foundation. this right here has been bubbling under the surface for a long time.

this is "techknow," a show about invasions that can change lives. we are going to explore the intersection of hardware and humanity and we are doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science by scientists. let's check out our team of hardcore nerds. dr. shim soma are. a, tonight, ojbriganse motivates with his voice. get ready for something great. stay humble and hungry.