Aug 15, 2014 10:16 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Howard University organized Wednesday to take a photo of hundreds of students holding their hands up, and it quickly went viral.

Megan Sims, a junior at Howard, was part of a group of black students holding their hands in the air to represent surrendering to a police officer and shared it on her Twitter account. As of Friday morning, the photo has been retweeted more than 13,000 times and favorited nearly 10,000 times.

"We had the option to opt out of the picture, but I chose to get involved because this is a very close issue to my heart," Sims told BuzzFeed. "Police brutality has got to stop, and the number of young black men killed by trigger-happy police is rising, which breaks my heart."

Powerful picture we took today at Howard University #Ferguson #MikeBrown #MyaWhite #DONTSHOOT pic.twitter.com/ttdVg33n5w

— Megan Sims (@The_Blackness48) August 14, 2014

The group was apparently a gathering for a freshman move-in meeting at the historically-black school in Washington D.C., Mother Jones reported, when Sims said they "felt we needed to respond to the Mike Brown issue."

A police officer named Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Saturday afternoon. Since, members of the predominantly black community have staged protests mostly peaceful, but with a few acts of violence. Multiple news outlets have detailed the protests and local police have resorted to using tear gas and rubber bullets, though some demonstrators have been seen throwing Molotov cocktails at officers.

The Ferguson Police initially were not going to release Wilson's name, the Huffington Post reported, but did so Friday at a news conference. Chief Thomas Jackson said officers were dispatched to respond to a robbery, but would not take any questions during the short announcement.

The St. Louis Suburb has reportedly calmed since, as President Obama has condemned the police's use of excessive force and ordered an FBI investigation into the matter.

The "hands up" demonstration arose because some witnesses have said they saw Brown raise his hands when approached by police, USA Today reported. After he was shot, it became clear that Brown was not armed.

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