It's almost been a year since Mike Brown, Jr. was shot dead and left in the street for 4 & 1/2 hours.  I remember exactly where I was when I heard about this.  I was camping near Rockford, IL.  I remember checking twitter and seeing my timeline explode.  When i arrived back in civilization, I was glued to twitter & livestreams almost every waking hour that i wasn't at work.  After seeing the city of Ferguson under seige by the Police for a week, I went to my boss and took 2 weeks off.  I was frustrated by the lack of independant live coverage there was so I couldn't sit idle anymore.  I finnaly arrived in Ferguson on 9/19/14 (a tuesday) in the late afternoon.  My first stream from Ferguson was from the now infamous tire store parking lot across from Ferguson PD.  At the time it was a daily gathering of church groups holding a daily peacful protest (as well as offering a safe haven from those fleeing W. Florrisant). HERE is that first Ferguson livestream.

After getting directions from the nice folks at the lot, I met up with a newly aqired twitter friend that would help watch my back and learn the ropes.  We made our way on foot to the heart of the main protest on W. Florrisant and it didn't take long for the police to over react and make the situation very tense.  About 2 hours after arrival I captured live AND named for the world #OfficerGoFuckYourself (Video Highlight Here).

I stayed in Ferguson for a week and a half before having to return to my job in Rockford, IL.  That only lasted for about 2 or 3 weeks as I couldn't take it anymore.  The day the Mike Brown Memorial was burned (the first time), I quit my job and "moved" to St. Louis to stay with a media partner (and still paying rent in Illinois as I could not break my lease).  From September 2014 until May 2015, I brought you LIVE coverage of many events and protests around the STL area.  I helped train and coach many of the now resident STL streamers and we have great working relationships (Heather, Derk, Stackz...).  I have been pepper spayed numerous times, as well as tear gassed and shot with a rubber bullet.

THIS is my video at South Grand & Arsenal (South STL) the night of the no-indictment for Daren Wilson.  Thankfully i was wearing a protective vest so the "rubber" bullet bounced right off (still had a slightly bruised rib for the next month).  

Ferguson was not my first time around the block.  I started livestreaming in Chicago almost 3 years before Mike Brown was shot.  I was targeted and arrested by a goon squad at the 2012 NATO protests.  While in Chicago I helped train many activists how to better use twitter and Ustream, including activist and personal friend @SamwiseEyes (The only remaining somewhat-regular Chicago Livestreamer).

I do not claim to be a "professional" journalist, therefore there is no need to hide my bias.  Many streamers including myself are blurring the lines between activism and jounalism and are creating for ourselves the media that we want and deserve.  Journalist Adrian Chen tailed me for a few days and wrote this article on the subject.  My goal is to be able to bring you the same LIVE frontline coverage you have come to expext from me. But I need your help!

All funds raised are for travel, food and unforeseen expenses.

-Anything above my goal will help pay for other costs and missed work opportunities.  My phone bill is outragous so I can provide you with longterm high quality streaming with no data caps or throttling. 

Even if you can't help out financially, your support and retweets during my streams are more important than you may realize!  If supporting independent journalism isn't your thing, there are many other great causes you can support, like OpHelpOrHush and many others.  I will purchase my first ticket as soon as i get the funds and will update as I go.  

Thank you!

Jon "Rebelutionary_Z" Ziegler