{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140818225035/http://johnlewis.house.gov:80/press-release/rep-john-lewis-shooting-michael-brown-and-events-ferguson-missouri", "Rep. John Lewis on Shooting of Michael Brown and Events in Ferguson, Missouri", "2014-08-14", "2014", "2014-08", "Democrat", "House", "GA", "John Lewis", "L000287", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "\"The death of Michael Brown is a grave tragedy the community of Ferguson, Missouri should not have to bear.\u00a0 How many more young men of color will\u00a0 be killed\u00a0 before we realize\u00a0 that we have a problem in America?\u00a0 We are permitting the incarceration and shooting\u00a0 of\u00a0 thousands of black and brown\u00a0 boys\u00a0 in their formative years\u00a0 who might have become\u00a0 great\u00a0 artists, leaders, scientists, or lawyers if we had offered them our\u00a0 support instead of our suspicion.\u00a0\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"It is a shame and a disgrace that a city with a significant African American population has\u00a0 only three representatives from that\u00a0 community on the police force.\u00a0 What kind of a police department is it that would refer to the people it should be trying to protect as animals?\u00a0 It is unbelievable that these ideas could run rampant in 2014.\u00a0 This is not 1940 or 1950 in America, but today it is hard to see the difference.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"This is not China or Russia or Syria.\u00a0\u00a0 This is America, and\u00a0 in this country we have a right to protest in a peaceful, orderly non-violent fashion, and the press should be free\u00a0 to cover these protests without fear.\u00a0 The police should not interfere in the exercise of these constitutional rights.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If people are not allowed to express their dissatisfaction through peaceful protest, they will find other means to make their voices heard.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"This is a good time to consider\u00a0 the words of Martin Luther King Jr., who said that \"Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice.\"\u00a0 I am glad the federal government will make an independent investigation of these matters.\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \" I urge every agency, every department, every community, every official and every person involved in this conflict to allow the whole truth to emerge so that peace--true peace and real justice will be the result.\u00a0\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"My prayers are with the family of Michael Brown who lost their hope for a better future, with the city of Ferguson which has become the crucible of this conflict,\u00a0 and my prayers are for this nation still struggling with the scars and stains of racial discrimination, wanton violence, and flagrant injustice.\" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140818225035/http://johnlewis.house.gov:80/press-release/rep-john-lewis-shooting-michael-brown-and-events-ferguson-missouri"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.61832757294178, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}