A dramatic photo of hundreds of Howard University students with their hands up, protesting the shooting of an unarmed man by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, went viral after it was posted on Instagram and passed around on social media this week.

The photo was first posted on Instagram by Khalil Saadiq, who helped organize the gathering.  (WashingtonPost.com)

Senior Megan Sims — aka @The_Blacknews48

— tweeted the photo Wednesday, and it had been retweeted thousands of times by Thursday morning.

Michael Brown, 18, was shot to death Saturday.

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Students were further motivated to take action after Howard  alumna Mya White was shot in the head Wednesday during a protest against Brown's shooting in the St. Louis suburb. (NBCWashington.com)