Michael Brown Memorial in Ferguson Rebuilt After Car Wrecks It

Community members in Ferguson, Missouri, gathered Friday morning to rebuild a makeshift memorial set up for teenager Michael Brown after a car destroyed the remembrance overnight. People started calling on social media for help to reconstruct the street memorial at about 4 a.m. “Someone destroyed the #MikeBrown memorial on Canfield. Hasn't that family, that community suffered enough," one Twitter user posted.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

A collection of stuffed animals and other tokens have been laid along Canfield Drive since a Ferguson police officer fatally shot an unarmed Brown there in August. Part of that strip of mementos was found damaged and scattered, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Many on social media said a driver purposefully plowed through the memorial, but Jeff Small, a spokesman for the Ferguson Police Department, said the destruction wasn't being considered a crime "at this point." Small told NBC News the incident is under investigation.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

After the memorial was quickly cleaned up and reassembled, more anger was sparked on social media over comments that The Washington Post attributed to another Ferguson Police Department spokesman, Officer Timothy Zoll. He told the newspaper in response to inquiries about the destruction: “I don’t know that a crime has occurred. But a pile of trash in the middle of the street? The Washington Post is making a call over this?” Zoll wasn't available for comment, but Small told NBC News that the officer said he was misquoted.

A grand jury last month decided not to indict Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Brown, sparking nationwide protests over the deaths of other black men at the hands of police.

IN-DEPTH

• Ferguson, Missouri's Police Chief Joins Michael Brown Protesters
• Michael Brown Memorial in Ferguson Destroyed by Fire

SOCIAL

— Elisha Fieldstadt