There are few words that would do any justice in explaining what exactly happened last night, how things fell apart. The grand jury’s decision not to indict Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson for killing 18-year-old Michael Brown was an unfortunately likely, if not inevitable, outcome. Grand juries return indictments in almost 99 percent of cases like these, except when the killer is a police officer, as Ben Casselman and Reuben Fischer-Baum report at FiveThirtyEight.com.

I’m not up for arguing over what happened between Brown and Wilson during their “struggle,” or whether Brown deserved multiple bullets to the body and head as some moral consequence. As I’ve pointed out before, the preeminent factor here, at least for me, is that a young, promising life was cut far too short, and his parents must now live with the anguish of their son’s death while his killer walks freely. Perhaps Brown’s parents will later be compensated through a civil suit, which they surely deserve, and the Justice Department still has two investigations pending, including one on whether Ferguson police violated Brown’s civil rights. But none of this will bring their son back.

Before passing judgment on Brown’s pre-murder behavior or on the post-grand jury riots, I recommend watching the video below, captured by Rebel Pundit, showing Brown’s mother after hearing that Wilson would not be indicted. It’s not a completely “clean” reel. You’ll hear language perhaps too profane to play out loud at your work desk. You’ll see tender moments, like when people from the crowd step up to embrace her, her frame enveloped in a comforting, smothering of love. But you’ll also see and hear uncomfortable elements, like the cries to “burn it down,” and the redness in the eyes of the people — not all rage — crying it.

What happens after the video is what you’ve seen on TV newscasts, newspaper pics, social media photos, and Vines across the board: assaulted police cars, burning buildings, burning American flags, gun shots, tear gas, and just tears — all part of a riot that could not have been quieted.

BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — The teenage girls entered the busy marketplace separately Tuesday, their vests of explosives hidden beneath their full hijabs.

The first detonated her bomb, killing three women. As rescuers rushed in, the second girl screamed and set off her explosives, killing dozens more, according to witnesses and authorities.

More than 40 people died in the double suicide bombing in Maiduguri, a provincial capital in northeastern Nigeria, according to Haruna Issa, a hospital volunteer in the city.

Suspicion immediately fell on the insurgents from the Islamic militant group Boko Haram, which controls a large part of northeastern Nigeria and is blamed for the deaths this year of at least 1,500 people in Africa's most populous country.

In its campaign of violence, Boko Haram has used car bombs and men wearing vests of explosives. It also has begun using women who can cover the explosives with their hijabs, and the recruits appear to have gotten younger, with several instances of teenage attackers earlier this year.

The militants attracted international attention with their April kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok, about 125 kilometers (78 miles) southwest of Maiduguri. The schoolgirls are still missing and their plight has aroused international concern and prompted the #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign.

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Borno state governor Kashim Shettima, speaks to a victim of suicide bomb attack receiving treatment …

On Oct. 17, the parents of the schoolgirls were encouraged when the Nigerian military announced a cease-fire with Boko Haram and said negotiations had begun for the release of the captives.

Those hopes were quickly dashed when Boko Haram fighters continued attacks and seized several cities and towns across the northeast. In a video statement, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau denied the cease-fire and scoffed at claims of negotiations to release the schoolgirls.

It was not known if Tuesday's attackers were connected with the April abduction. A worker with a nongovernmental organization said young women in northern Nigeria are especially vulnerable to recruitment by the extremist group. The worker spoke on condition of anonymity because she feared for her safety.

The coordinated bombings by the two girls dressed in full hijabs took place as the marketplace was crowded with shoppers, said Abba Aji Kalli, the coordinator of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Borno state.

The first girl set off her explosives, while the second apparently waited until the rescuers rushed in to help before detonating her bomb, killing another 30 people, Kalli said.

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A victim of a suicide bomb attack at a market receives treatment at a specialist hospital in Maidugu …

"I am right here at the scene, and I have before me 11 corpses. ... Many have been taken away by relatives, while others are taken to the state specialists' hospital," he added.

On July 2, a car bomb in the same market killed 56 people.

Maiduguri, the largest city in Borno state and the birthplace of Boko Haram five years ago, is home to a Nigerian military headquarters. So far, the government troops have been unable to halt the bloodshed in the city and surrounding areas.

Borno is one of the three states in northeastern Nigeria that are under a state of emergency because of the extremist violence.

In a new strategy, Boko Haram is seeking to form a caliphate, mimicking the Islamic State group.

Boko Haram still holds many centers in an area covering an estimated 20,000 square kilometers (7,700 square miles) and has said it is imposing a strict version of Shariah law. The insurgents want to impose Islamic rule over all Nigeria, whose 170 million people are about evenly divided between Christians and Muslims.

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Associated Press writer Chika Oduah in Abuja, Nigeria, contributed to this story.

Associated Press Videos
Cleveland Police Release Video of Boy's Shooting

CLEVELAND (AP) — The family of a 12-year-old boy fatally wounded by a Cleveland police officer said surveillance video of the shooting shows that if the officer had not acted so quickly the youngster would still be alive.

The video made public on Wednesday shows Tamir Rice being shot within 1½ to 2 seconds of a patrol car stopping near him at a park in Cleveland on Saturday. It shows the boy reaching in his waistband for what police discovered was a pellet gun that shoots non-lethal plastic projectiles. He died the next day.

Tamir's family said in a statement released by their attorneys that they hope Cleveland police and Cuyahoga County prosecutors "thoroughly examine" what happened at the park that day.

"It is our belief that this situation could have been avoided and that Tamir should still be here with us," said the family. "The video shows one thing distinctly: the police officers reacted quickly."

The patrol officer who shot Tamir was identified Wednesday as Timothy Loehmann, a 26-year-old rookie who began his career in Cleveland on March 3. He previously spent five months in 2012 with a department in suburban Independence, but four of those months were in that city's police academy.

Loehmann's partner that day was identified as Frank Garmback, 46. He has been with the department since 2008. Both are on paid administrative leave pending a decision by the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office whether to pursue any criminal charges.

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This still image taken from a surveillance video played at a news conference held by Cleveland Polic …

Much of the video footage shows Tamir alone in a park on an unseasonably warm November afternoon. He is seen pacing, occasionally extending his right arm with what appears to be a gun in his hand, talking on a cellphone and sitting a picnic table with his head resting on his arms.

The gun wasn't real. It can be bought at sporting goods stores for less than $20. Tamir's was lacking the orange safety indicator usually found on the barrel and, from a distance, was indistinguishable from a real firearm.

At one moment, Tamir is sitting at a picnic table in a gazebo. He stands and a police car zooms into the frame from the right and stops on the grass, just a few feet from Tamir. The passenger door opens and Loehmann shoots Tamir before Garmback can get out the driver's side door.

It's unclear how far Tamir was from Loehmann when the officer shot him, but Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said Wednesday that it was less than 10 feet.

The low-resolution video shows Tamir reaching to his waistband and then bending over after being shot. His body is mostly obscured by the patrol car when he falls to the ground. Garmback can be seen walking around the car and kicking what is said to be the airsoft gun away from Tamir.

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Cleveland police deputy chief Ed Tomba answers questions at a news conference Wednesday, Nov. 26, 20 …

Tomba told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that an FBI agent who was working a bank robbery detail nearby arrived within a few minutes and administered first aid to Tamir. Paramedics arrived three minutes later. The boy died on Sunday at a Cleveland hospital.

Tomba said the city was releasing the video at the behest of Tamir's family.

"This is not an effort to exonerate. It's not an effort to show the public that anybody did anything wrong," Tomba said. "This is an obvious tragic event where a young member of our community lost their life. We've got two officers that were out there protecting the public that just had to, you know, do something that nobody wants to do."

On Saturday, a person had called 911 about a male pointing a gun at others at the park. The caller told the 911 dispatcher that the gun was "probably fake," then added, "I don't know if it's real or not."

Tomba would not discuss statements the two officers gave after the shooting, saying they were part of the investigation. Nor would he discuss details of the radio conversation between the officers and a dispatcher except to say they were apprised that they were on a "gun run."

David Malik, one of the attorneys representing Tamir's family, said Wednesday that he hoped the shooting of Tamir would lead to reform. He cited Cincinnati, where he said the police department, police union and the community worked collaboratively.

"Hopefully, incidents like this won't occur again," Malik said.

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Associated Press writers Jennifer Smola in Cleveland and Kantele Franko and Ann Sanner in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.

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