It’s fairly well established that media members have not been welcomed with open arms by police in Ferguson where a grand jury on Monday declined to indict officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown.
However, the level of antipathy toward media members from local residents is somewhat surprising, given that media members are trying to help them tell their stories and air their grievances against a legal system that they feel has wronged them time and time again.
On Tuesday evening, November 25, journalist Marcus DiPaola was shooting a story on the Ferguson protests near the memorial to Michael Brown near where he was shot and killed in August.
While there, a mob of protesters descended upon him and his team, demanding the keys to his vehicle and eventually forcing them away from the scene at gunpoint. When he returned to his vehicle, he found that the windows had been smashed and the car torched.
Photography Is Not A Crime founder and publisher, Carlos Miller, spoke to DiPaola early Thursday morning and recorded this interview, in which DiPaola recounts the details of the scene and events of that evening.
He also said he will remain in Ferguson until at least Sunday because he expects protests to heat up on Black Friday. Below are photos of his car during and after it get torched as well as a photo of him getting his eyes washed out after being pepper sprayed by cops as well as the Fox News segment on him getting carjacked.
