--- description: The outcry over the fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, has spread across social media under the handle, "#Dontshoot," where protesters have posted pictures of themselves with their hands held above their heads. title: Michael Brown Ferguson Shooting Sets Off #Dontshoot Protest image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # #Dontshoot Protesters Outraged by Ferguson Teen's Death Throw Up Their Hands on Instagram  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 19, 2014 5:34 PM CUT  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 19, 2014 5:34 PM CUT Four days after Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., students at Howard University gathered for this [picture](https://twitter.com/The%5FBlackness48/status/499714499688300545/photo/1 "undefined") with their faces plaintive and their hands: Since then, similar images of groups around the nation — from other college students, to teachers to churches — have spread across social media under the hashtag “#Dontshoot.” > [](https://twitter.com/RapUp/status/501337768107048963) > [](https://twitter.com/pastorp3/status/501733498122960896) > [](https://twitter.com/TFABaltimore/status/500649516820094976) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3144731/ferguson-dontshoot/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3144731/ferguson-dontshoot/"},"headline":"#Dontshoot Protesters Outraged by Ferguson Teen's Death Throw Up Their Hands on Instagram","datePublished":"2014-08-19T17:34:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:44:46.232Z","description":"Protesters throw their hands in the air on social media","url":"https://time.com/3144731/ferguson-dontshoot/","keywords":["Crime","police","Civil Rights","Ferguson topic","Michael Brown"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"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":"https://time.com/3144731/ferguson-dontshoot/","name":"#Dontshoot Protesters Outraged by Ferguson Teen's Death Throw Up Their Hands on Instagram"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Ferguson's Countdown to Curfew","description":"Countdown to Curfew compress","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7TmLGuKX/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-17T19:39:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7TmLGuKX.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3144731/ferguson-dontshoot/","duration":"PT5M10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3144731/ferguson-dontshoot/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```