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              Social Media, Websites Escalate Tension in Ferguson

   by Ayesha Tanzeem

   In news accounts and on social media, it looks as if demonstrators are
   clashing daily with law enforcement officers in Ferguson, Missouri. In
   reality, demonstrations have been mostly peaceful since the violence
   immediately following the August 9 shooting of a black teenager by a
   white police officer.

   Some local demonstrators have been attending classes in nonviolent
   action. Leaders have asked their groups to call out anyone they see
   causing trouble.

   But some organizations, such as [1]RbG Black Rebels, are inflaming
   matters. The self-described urban militia has offered a reward on
   Twitter for the location of Darren Wilson, the white police officer who
   shot unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.

   At the other end of the spectrum, the white supremacist group, the Ku
   Klux Klan, has been distributing fliers warning protesters that they
   have awakened a "sleeping giant."

   List of targets?

   Some conservative websites have published stories accusing protest
   groups of issuing a list of "potential targets."

   [2]Gateway Pundit, a political website run by Tea Party activist Jim
   Hoft, said the website [3]NoIndictment.org released such a list. But a
   visit to that site shows a list of "possible protest spaces."
   "Remember, we actively advocate and profess the importance of peaceful
   protest," the NoIndictment website says. "We do not support, condone or
   encourage violence."

   The [4]Conservative Tribune said a target list was published by
   [5]Justice for Mike Brown Facebook page.

   But Derk Brown, who administers the Justice page, told VOA he never
   posted such a list. "I saw the list," he said, adding he "never
   mentioned it on my page. Not one time."

   Neither the Gateway Pundit nor the Conservative Tribune responded to
   VOA `s Facebook requests for interviews.

   Tense community

   Social media content and violent images in the news from August have
   put the community on edge -- so much so that Missouri's governor, Jay
   Nixon, declared a state of emergency last Monday.

   "We're certainly concerned about folks that are not coming to speak but
   instead are coming to instigate or cause harm to their fellow citizens
   or to the property," Nixon said in explaining the declaration. The move
   activated the National Guard, making its members available to assist
   law enforcement.

   Some Ferguson businesses are boarding up their storefronts. Business
   owners told VOA they're taking that measure not because they feel
   threatened but because their insurance companies have insisted on it.
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   [6]http://www.voanews.com/content/social-media-escalate-tension-in-ferg
   uson/2530642.html

References

   1. https://twitter.com/blackrebels_stl
   2. http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/11/justice-for-mike-brown-group-releases-list-of-targets-including-anheuser-busch-boeing-emerson-electric-airport/
   3. http://noindictment.org/
   4. http://conservativetribune.com/
   5. https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForMikeBrownFerguson
   6. http://www.voanews.com/content/social-media-escalate-tension-in-ferguson/2530642.html