--- description: The protests over the grand jury decision this week have captivated international attention title: Ferguson Protesters Take Lead in TIME’s Person of the Year Poll image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbde79cd3b9a81101/69876b81a988ca266b6ab0e8/453768716.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Ferguson](/tag/ferguson/) ## Ferguson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ferguson Protesters Take Lead in TIME’s Person of the Year Poll by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 29, 2014 4:24 PM CUT  Tear gas reigns down on a woman kneeling in the street with her hands in the air after a demonstration over the killing of teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer on Aug. 17, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Tear gas reigns down on a woman kneeling in the street with her hands in the air after a demonstration over the killing of teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer on Aug. 17, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri.Scott Olson—Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 29, 2014 4:24 PM CUT Ferguson protestors have gained the lead in TIME’s [Person of the Year poll](http://time.com/3562179/time-person-of-the-year-poll/ "undefined"), with seven days to go in the voting. Unrest in Ferguson and around the country focused attention on race and policing, helping to lift Ferguson protestors into first place in the TIME reader poll with 10.7% of the vote. Thousands of demonstrators marched in solidarity with the family of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man who was shot by the police, disrupting Black Friday shopping in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Seattle and other cities. Protests cropped up all across the United States in the wake of a grand jury’s decision in Ferguson Monday not to indict the white police officer who fatally shot Brown. Narendra Modi, the newly elected Indian prime minister, stands at 10% in the polls. As the leader of the largest democracy in the world, Modi has raised high hopes among Indians that he can invigorate the country’s economy and cut bureaucratic red tape that has slowed development in India. **_Should the Ferguson Protestors Be TIME’s Person of the Year? Vote Below for #TIMEPOY_** Since 1927, TIME has named a person who for better or worse has most influenced the news and our lives in the past year. The Person of the Year is selected by TIME’s editors, but readers are asked to weigh in by commenting on any [TIME Facebook](http://facebook.com/time "undefined") post that includes #TIMEPOY, tweeting [your vote using #TIMEPOY](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23timepoy "undefined"), or by heading over to [TIME.com’s Person of the Year voting hub](http://time.com/3562179/time-person-of-the-year-poll/ "undefined"), where Pinnion’s technology is recording, visualizing and analyzing results as they are received. Votes from Twitter, Facebook and TIME.com’s voting hub are pooled together to create the totals displayed on the site. [You can see the results of the poll and vote on your choice for person of the year here.](http://time.com/3562201/time-person-of-the-year-poll-results/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3610243/ferguson-protesters-person-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3610243/ferguson-protesters-person-of-the-year/"},"headline":"Ferguson Protesters Take Lead in TIME’s Person of the Year Poll","datePublished":"2014-11-29T16:24:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:26:51.015Z","description":"The protests over the grand jury decision this week have captivated international attention","url":"https://time.com/3610243/ferguson-protesters-person-of-the-year/","keywords":["Ferguson","Ferguson topic","Person of the Year topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbde79cd3b9a81101/69876b81a988ca266b6ab0e8/453768716.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbde79cd3b9a81101/69876b81a988ca266b6ab0e8/453768716.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man","caption":"Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ferguson/","name":"Ferguson"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3610243/ferguson-protesters-person-of-the-year/","name":"Ferguson Protesters Take Lead in TIME’s Person of the Year Poll"}}]}] ```