Michael Brown was a young African American man who was fatally shot by a white police officer named Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014. Brown's death sparked widespread protests and reignited the national conversation about police brutality and the treatment of African Americans by law enforcement.

The shooting of Michael Brown led to an investigation by the Department of Justice, which ultimately found systemic racial bias within the Ferguson Police Department. The incident also brought attention to the broader issues of systemic racism, police violence, and the lack of accountability in the criminal justice system.

Michael Brown's death is seen as a key moment in the Black Lives Matter movement, which emerged in response to the killings of African Americans by the police and the lack of accountability for such actions. His name became a symbol of the fight against racial injustice and police brutality in the United States.