(Associated Press) An African-American boy holding a “Free Hugs” sign stood crying in front of a police barricade at a Ferguson rally in Portland. A white police officer motioned for him to come closer. The officer then asked the boy for a hug – and they embraced, the boy’s anguished face streaming with tears.
A photographer captured the encounter earlier this week, and the photo has become popular on social media. It’s an unusual image as people around the country protest a grand jury’s decision to not indict a white police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.
In Portland, both the boy and the officer – 12-year-old Devonte Hart and Portland Police Sgt. Bret Barnum – took unusual steps when they met on Tuesday.
