This past summer, the ISIS situation in Iraq and Syria and the Ebola epidemic in West Africa infected the word’s consciousness. Here at home, the shooting of an unarmed African-American teenager also dominated the media.

In August, Michael Brown was gunned down by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The officer resisted arrest and claimed that Brown had assaulted him in his cruiser. However, eyewitnesses saw a very different set of events. They say that Brown was actually running from the officer with his hands up and screaming, “Don’t shoot, I’m unarmed!” The officer proceeded to fire at the young man and killed him.

Citizens are now questioning whether or not this was a racially motivated shooting or just police brutality. Either way, it cannot go unanswered. Riots ensued after this morbid display of “local injustice.”

As time went on, more riots erupted. This is when the world saw that the firepower of the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department was more powerful than many small nations. Police were equipped with tear gas and grenade launches. It’s surprising that they didn’t have surface to air missiles. Protesters questioned why their local police had all of this firepower. Pundits nationwide asked similar questions. During the riots, S.W.A.T snipers and armored convoys rolled in through poor, minority neighborhoods. Police brutally beat and arrested these locals. Some argue that the authorities had to use excessive force and that they made the right call. Where would you draw the line?