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The Militant (logo)
Vol. 79/No. 30 August 24, 2015
(front page)
Protests mark year since
cop killed Michael Brown
Marchers in Ferguson say Black lives matter
Militant/John Hawkins
March in Ferguson, Missouri, Aug. 9 marks one-year anniversary of
killing of Michael Brown Jr. by cop Darren Wilson. In front at left is
Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr.
BY JOHN HAWKINS
FERGUSON, Mo. — More than 1,000 demonstrators marched and rallied here
Sunday, Aug. 9 to mark the first anniversary of the killing of
18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.
The march, led by Brown’s father, was part of a series of actions that
drew participants from across the Midwest and as far away as South
Carolina, New York and California. It involved relatives of several
victims of police killings who have helped set the tone for a growing
nationwide movement to bring killer cops to justice.
That night, following a full day of activities, there was a
confrontation between police and protesters. Heavily armed cops became
increasingly provocative as the evening wore on. After hundreds of
demonstrators had moved out of West Florissant Avenue in response to
police orders, cop cars sped down the street and dozens of officers in
riot gear formed a skirmish line.
Unrelated gunfire broke out nearby, and police shot and critically
wounded 18-year-old Tyrone Harris Jr. Police released a video Aug. 11
they say shows Harris pulling a pistol from his waistband after gunshots
were heard nearby.
The next day St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger declared a state
of emergency, transferring police powers related to protests to St.
Louis County police. Dozens of protesters were arrested during actions
Aug. 10 that included sit-ins outside the U.S. Courthouse in St. Louis
and blocking evening rush hour traffic on Interstate 70.
On Aug. 11 a group of Caucasian men identifying themselves as members of
Oath Keepers, armed with pistols, rifles and body armor, showed up on
West Florissant Avenue.
Relatives speak on cop brutality
Marchers assembled Aug. 9 at the memorial to Michael Brown on Canfield
Road here. At a rally before the demonstration more than a dozen people
spoke, including Michael Brown Sr., father of the youth whose death
spurred protests across the country; Erica Garner, daughter of Eric
Garner, killed by police in Staten Island, New York, July 17 last year;
and Bree Newsome, who climbed the flag pole in Columbia, South Carolina,
and took down the Confederate battle flag days before the state
legislature voted to discontinue flying it.
“I first met Mike Brown Sr. last Aug. 11, just two days after his son
was killed,” Cephus Johnson, uncle of Oscar Grant, who was killed by Bay
Area Rapid Transit cop Johannes Mehserle in 2009, told the crowd. “Since
then he has been traveling all around awakening people to action, so
that what happened to Mike Brown Jr. should not happen to another human
being.
“The Bay Area Black community stood with us,” he said. “But more
importantly they used their First Amendment rights to speak out against
the injustice and get Mehserle indicted. That’s what communities across
the country have to do for all families who lose a loved one to police
violence.”
At exactly 11:55 a.m., the time of Brown’s shooting, the rally observed
four and a half minutes of silence — one minute for every hour Brown’s
body lay in the street after he was killed.
“We came to fight for social justice and show that the labor movement is
involved and is part of the Black Lives Matter fight,” said Marcia Gant,
a member of Communications Workers of America Local 6355 and the
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists in St. Louis, who came to the march
with a delegation from her local. “Michael Brown’s mother is a grocery
store worker and is a member of the UFCW.”
Mark Frank, an education counselor from nearby University City who is
Caucasian, told the Militant, “We need to support the Black community in
the fight against police brutality. We need to show up and show our
outrage. The same kind of stuff happens to whites, but not in the same
proportion. It’s wrong and it’s got to stop.”
“The only time they listen is when they see they have something to
lose,” Michael Person, a longtime Ferguson resident and member of the
CBTU and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1439,
told the Militant. “I had not been involved for 10 years. But I couldn’t
just sit back and live well myself and watch all this go on around me.”
“We marshall the demonstrations to keep protesters safe from attacks by
cops,” said Markese Mull, a leader of Peacekeepers of St. Louis and a
longtime friend of the Brown family. “As long as our kids are shot and
left laying on the ground, we are going to keep marching until something
is done.”
Alyson Kennedy contributed to this article.
Related articles:
Family demands truth in cop killing of Zachary Hammond
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