Category: Ferguson Protests

Journey for Justice march pushes toward Jefferson City after resistance

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Columbia Missourian | Dec 5, 2014

OSAGE COUNTY — Thursday’s march through central Missouri was much calmer — albeit with mixed reactions from spectators — than the racial slurs, Confederate flag waving and gunshot that Journey for Justice marchers faced the day before as they walked through the village of Rosebud. (Read our previous coverage of that counterprotest here.)

The NAACP sponsored 135­-mile march from Ferguson to the Governor’s Mansion in Jefferson City began Saturday in response to a grand jury’s decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of black teenager Michael Brown last week.

When the marchers walked through Linn on Thursday, they occasionally passed people holding cardboard signs in support of Wilson.

But a few miles later on U.S. 50, the reactions of motorists were more mixed as they honked their car horns while passing the marchers.

One driver leaned out of his window and snapped pictures as he shouted, “I admire you!”

Another man yelled, “Support Darren Wilson!” as he drove by.

The marchers Thursday said the journey has come to represent much more than one shooting. The systemic problems concerning race and the American justice system have only been amplified by the recent attention given to police shootings of black men, they said.

“It’s larger than Ferguson, it’s a nationwide issue,” said the Rev. W.T. Edmonson, a Jefferson City pastor who was marching Thursday. “There are systemic issues regarding this policing … You have police killing young black men all over the country. But these marches are not against the police … There is a need for discipline and good policing and accountability. That’s what we’re calling for!”

The most recent case to ignite tensions is that of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man confronted on suspicion of selling single cigarettes who died after a New York police officer put him in a chokehold in July. On Wednesday night, a grand jury acquitted the police officer even though the incident was recorded on camera. Protests broke out in the city after the decision was released.

President Obama is asking Congress for millions of dollars to equip police officers with body cameras in an effort to increase accountability. But following the Garner case, some people who have advocated for systemic change in law enforcement are now questioning the effectiveness of body cameras.

“The body cameras wouldn’t be bad,” said Mustafaa Rose, a Lincoln University student. “But from what is clearly been shown, it wouldn’t make a difference because (police are) still getting away with it.”

Despite the overcast skies, aching feet and sporadic hostile signs and shouts, spirits remained high among the marchers Thursday.

Phill Dage, a busker from Detroit, looked over the frozen Missouri fields adorned by the silhouettes of bare trees.

“Beautiful country here,” he said.

Dage spent much of the march singing protest songs and playing his bongo drum alongside his friend Randy Chabot, also from Detroit, as well as another marcher who played maraca and tambourine, Alexander Ross from Fayetteville, Arkansas.

“In protests, I think music is a very powerful form of resistance,” Dage said. “Music has that mysterious way of bringing us together. And if we can sing together, it’s going to be very hard to argue and to look at the other person in a negative way.”

Rasheed Ali also traveled far to join the march. Wearing a bright orange vest and responding only to “Ali!,” he sprinted up and down the line of marchers with a video camera, determined to record each participant.

Back home in South Carolina, Ali flips houses —“maybe two a year”— and sells books at Christian conferences in order to fund his trips to various protests across the nation.

When he saw people with anti­-Michael Brown signs in Linn, he hugged them.

“It blew a lot of people’s minds,” Ali said. “I love being the one to break down barriers, because they want to talk, and I want to hear what they have to say. That don’t mean people can’t disagree and get along.”

Other marchers claimed a closer home.

About half-­dozen student leaders from Lincoln University joined the march Thursday.

Kendall Wright, a leader of Lincoln University’s LGBT group and a political science major, said he decided to change his career path from foreign policy to law or national politics after hearing about the recent national events concerning police violence.

“It makes me want to be more involved with politics here in this nation because I want to know the laws more in depth and enforce those laws,” Wright said. “I want to be able to tell individuals, ‘Hey, we have certain rights.’”

At around 3:15 p.m. Thursday, protesters stopped marching and loaded the bus that had been following them down the highway. They headed to Quinn Chapel in Jefferson City, where they ate dinner, chatted and stayed the night in sleeping bags.

On Friday morning, marchers will pick up where they left off on Highway 50. They expect to reach the Governor’s Mansion in Jefferson City by 1 p.m.

Missouri Black Caucus responds to Ferguson protesters’ demand for change

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Jefferson City News Tribune | Nov 26, 2014

When state Rep. Courtney Allen Curtis heard the St. Louis County grand jury had decided not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, he was standing outside the Ferguson Police Department among a crowd of disappointed protesters.

The crowd heard “four supposed shots that were fired” after Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch made the announcement Monday night, Curtis, D-Ferguson, said.

He watched as protesters began to move toward the police. Some chanted and urged peaceful protest. Others began overturning a police vehicle, looting, rioting and setting fire to businesses. Several were hit with tear gas. In the end, 61 were arrested throughout the night.

Curtis said the protesters were expressing mounting frustration with a legal system infused with institutionalized racism. His constituents are demanding change, he said, and legislators in Missouri’s Black Caucus are determined to deliver it in the upcoming legislative session.

“People protest in different ways for a variety of different reasons,” Curtis said, explaining why some in the crowd resorted to violence. “The non-violence movement brought some change, but that change wasn’t permanent. … So if you make a bigger spectacle of it, then it will bring more attention and force change.”

Rep. Brandon Ellington, chair of the Black Caucus, didn’t condone the rioting, either, but he tried to explain why the protesters turned to arson and looting.

“When you’ve got people who are feeling overtly oppressed, then they act out with the only means they can,” Ellington, D-Kansas City, said.

Caucus members were as disappointed as their constituents by the grand jury’s decision, but they were not surprised.

“However, I am extremely surprised with the prosecutor’s tone,” Ellington said about McCulloch.

Ellington was especially taken aback that McCulloch cast blame on the media and witnesses, instead having “no blame for the officer that was involved in the shooting.”

Members of the caucus have already begun to address their constituents’ disillusionment.

Even before Monday night’s news conference, Rep. Karla May, D-St. Louis and vice chair of the Black Caucus, and Rep. Sharon Pace, D-St. Louis, met with Ferguson Mayor James Knowles, City Manager John Shaw and City Councilman Mark Byrne to consider possible reforms.

The group discussed legislation that caucus members plan to pre-file Dec. 1, including bills that would require police officers to wear body cameras and to participate in psychological testing and diversity and sensitivity training, Pace said.

In addition, they talked about incorporating a restorative justice plan that would allow adults charged with minor violations to participate in community service rather than pay fines. That plan would include some of those arrested during the Ferguson protests.

“We got feedback from both sides, and I think the meeting went very well as far as (Ferguson city officials) being receptive to what we were discussing,” Pace said.

Caucus members are aware the bills won’t see swift and easy passage through the legislature.

“The question is, can we come up with something that the majority party can get along with? Because they’re largely from rural areas, so they don’t have the same concerns,” Curtis said. “There’s a lot of strategizing taking place, a lot of conversations being had.”

Ultimately, members of the caucus hope that whatever reform they can achieve will lead to greater stability and equality in Missouri.

“I just hope for peace,” state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, said. She learned that rioters burned down an office where she teaches civic engagement classes twice a week in Ferguson.

What’s most important, Chappelle-Nadal said, is that Missouri implements “systematic change” that transforms “institutional prejudice, which is penetrated throughout state government and other institutions.”

Black Caucus: Activating Guard stirring anxiety

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Jefferson City News Tribune | Nov 19, 2014

Gov. Jay Nixon’s decision to declare a state of emergency and activate the National Guard has stirred anxiety surrounding anticipation of a grand jury’s verdict in the death of a Ferguson teen, the chairman of the Missouri Black Caucus said Tuesday.

The governor’s announcement Monday came ahead of the grand jury’s decision on whether to indict white police officer Darren Wilson, who killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August in Ferguson. Since the shooting, demonstrators have taken to Ferguson streets, protesting police violence and Brown’s death.

During the fallout in August, police were criticized for using tear gas and military-grade equipment while some protestors turned to rioting. Nixon called upon the National Guard to quell the unrest.

On Monday, Nixon said he activated the Guard before the jury’s announcement in order to prepare for “any contingency that might arise.” He justified his decision with what he called “two pillars”: to keep the public safe and to protect constitutional rights.

“It (Nixon’s declaration) definitely increases anxiety, no ifs, ands or buts about it,” caucus leader Rep. Brandon Ellington said Tuesday. “It’s concerning because obviously even the governor feels that the police department in Ferguson is incapable of keeping the public peace and protecting people’s rights.”

Other members of the caucus said they are skeptical about whether the National Guard can protect public safety and constitutional rights.

State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal represents Missouri’s 14th district, where Ferguson is located. Since Nixon’s announcement, she said she has received numerous phone calls, emails, tweets and Facebook messages from residents of the district in response to Nixon’s decision.

“According to my constituents, who I’ve been on the ground with since day one, they have absolutely zero faith in the governor because of the multiple mistakes he made in the whole aftermath after Mike Brown was killed by Darren Wilson,” Chappelle-Nadal said. “He (Nixon) is focusing on the unrest instead of focusing on the fact that people are hurting, and we have a problem when it comes to police brutality.”

Ellington said he wished the governor had taken a more diplomatic approach by engaging the community through conversation.

“Rioting and protests historically is the voice of the voiceless,” Ellington said. “People start rioting and protesting when people feel like their voices aren’t being heard. People feel like they don’t have any due process under the law.

“Sometimes you can alleviate the situation by actually talking to people, actually treating people with respect and decency,” he said.

On the day Nixon declared the state of emergency, the Black Caucus called for Ferguson to establish a restorative justice plan in response to the fines and arrests of protesters over the past three months.

Through restorative justice, those accused of crimes make restitution to society through community service or other productive functions rather than just serving a sentence or paying a fine.

“People have the right to protest. People have the right to voice their opinion. People have the right to peaceably assemble,” Ellington said, referring to the non-violent protestors and members of the press who have been arrested in Ferguson. “And the government should not deny people these rights … and if you give them fines for trying to exercise their constitutionally protected rights, that’s wrong.”

On Monday, the Black Caucus sent out letters to Ferguson city officials, including the mayor, city council members and the local prosecutor, asking them to meet with the Caucus regarding protesters’ fines. Ellington hopes they can come to a solution, perhaps by replacing fines with required community service.

According to Ellington, they have already received some positive reactions from city council members.

The Black Caucus is still discussing what legislation it plans to push in the upcoming legislative session. But Ellington is already determined to re-file House Bill 1699, which would require police to wear video cameras with their uniforms.

He filed the bill in the last legislative session, but it did not pass the House.

“With the wake of what happened in Ferguson, I think it is something that is extremely needed,” Ellington said. “Had we had that law in place, and the law enforcement officers were required to wear audio and video equipment, it wouldn’t be a question what happened.”

Ellington plans to file the bill Dec. 1, the first day legislators can pre-file bills for the upcoming session.

Columbia rally for Michael Brown aims civil rights message at new generation

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Columbia Missourian | Aug 22, 2014

COLUMBIA — In 1977, Princeton graduate student C.W. Dawson Jr. was pulled over in Trenton, N.J. The police officer told him that he matched the description of a robbery suspect. Dawson said that next thing he knew, he was thrown into the back of the police vehicle.

“I got stopped for D.W.B.,” Dawson said. “Driving while black.”

Fast-forward to 2010. Graduate student Dawson had earned a doctoral degree and was lecturing on social and political issues in philosophy at a conference in New York City.

“I get stopped, and I’m still fitting a description,” said Dawson, currently a minister with Dawson Journeys Ministry. “The point? It still goes on.”

On Thursday evening, Dawson was one of several speakers at an NAACP-sponsored rally outside the Boone County Courthouse. Nearly two weeks after Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, people came together to demand justice, to assert their place in the decadeslong battle for civil rights and to show support for Brown’s family.

Rallygoers convened at 6 p.m. as volunteers passed out water bottles to battle the 90-degree heat. The diverse audience of several hundred filled up the amphitheater outside the courthouse, spilling onto the grass and surrounding ledges. College students stood with their bikes, and children climbed on statues. Many attendees held signs reading “End police brutality now” and “Cameras see more than color.” Police were absent from the scene.

The evening began with chants of “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” and what has become a common rally cry for Ferguson protesters: “Hands up, don’t shoot!”

Speakers demanded more transparency from St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch into the investigation of Brown’s shooting. They also demanded that the officer who shot Brown be held responsible.

“Why are they doing this behind closed doors? Because when you do it in front of a grand jury, you don’t get to see anything,” said David Tyson Smith, attorney at Smith & Parnell LLC. “This officer should be arrested. There should be a public hearing.”

Speakers also called for McCulloch to step aside in favor of a special prosecutor.

Mary Ratliff, the NAACP Missouri State Conference president, compared the rally to protests during the 1960s.

“We are training our young people,” Ratliff said. “Many times, young people didn’t realize we had to fight for them to sit at the restaurant, fight for them to be able to go to the restrooms. This has let them know that the fight must go on. Every generation must fight.”

Like many ’60s-era protests, attendees joined together in song a few times during the course of the evening.

Near the beginning of the rally, Columbia resident Lucretia Murray led the crowd in the singing of the civil rights era hymn “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round.”

“It was one that was sung hundreds and hundreds of times during the civil rights movement,” Murray said. “We’re fighting for some of the same things, and I was just talking to my children last night, and they were saying, ‘Well, didn’t Poppy and Grandma fight for these things already?’ Well, yes, and the fact of the matter is that it might be an ongoing battle for the rest of our lives.”

Timothy Gist, a senior at Columbia College and member of the MU NAACP, was one of many from the younger generation who attended the rally.

Gist, who is originally from St. Louis, believes that strength comes in numbers.

“I feel like if the people of Columbia apply the right amount of pressure on the people who have political power, you are able to add more pressure to law enforcement, to the prosecuting attorney,”  Gist said.

Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis NAACP, has spoken to members of the Brown family on multiple occasions and said they were overwhelmed and thankful for the displays of support that have occurred nationwide over the past couple of weeks.

“They thought it was amazing that the rest of the country and these folks from all over the world are sympathizing to support their cause for justice in finding out what happened to their son,” Pruitt said. “They hope that this will prevent this happening to any other child in the future.”

Dawson found hope in the show of solidarity that brought different races, genders, religions and sexual orientations together in support of a common goal.

“We will put our hands up,” Dawson said. “Because it used to mean that we surrender. We hold our hands up to signify that we’re still here. We hold our hands up to let the world know that we are somebody, because you can imprison us, you can shoot at us, you can kill somebody; we hold our hands up to say no more.”

‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ movement seen as rallying cry for change

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Columbia Missourian | Aug 18, 2014

Gov. Jay Nixon’s mandated curfew in Ferguson began at midnight Sunday, but Jonathan Butler’s curiosity got the better of him. After midnight Sunday, he stood under pouring rain, about 30 feet behind a group of protestors jeering at the line of police tasked with enforcing the curfew.

At 12:50 a.m., Butler saw bright lights approaching from the end of the street, which he assumed were SWAT trucks. Law enforcement officers gave a last warning for the protestors to disperse, but they stood their ground. A few protestors even moved closer to the police line, Butler said.

A few minutes later, police began throwing tear gas cans at the crowd, and other officers fired rubber bullets.

“When they started popping the first tear gas, there was a taste I couldn’t get out of my mouth,” Butler said. “My nose started running. I just started itching. It was so overpowering that I started to get a headache.”

Butler, an MU graduate student, arrived in Ferguson at about 10 a.m. Saturday to participate in peaceful protest following the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. At 1:05 a.m. Sunday, he helped protestors and fellow onlookers find safety.

“I was trying to make sure people were OK,” Butler said. “And that’s what kind of amazed me because even though it was a bad situation, you still saw the people come together as a community. Even in that frenzy, there was a real communal aspect of everyone in Ferguson looking out for each other, and that was a unanimous thing the whole day.”

These feelings of support haven’t been contained to Ferguson. Demonstrations using the mantra “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” have spread throughout the country. The chant was inspired by Brown’s reaction to Wilson’s gunshots, according to eyewitness reports. After Butler returned to Columbia on Sunday, he hosted a #DontShoot photo challenge for MU at 1 p.m.

Several dozen students, staff and faculty as well as members of the community posed in front of the MU Columns. In one photo, they raised both of their hands in solidarity with Brown, and in another, they lifted their right fists. As the photos were taken, their unified chants of  “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” echoed across Frances Quadrangle.

The #DontShoot photo challenge movement began at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Students raised their hands with the caption “Don’t shoot,” and the photo soon went viral on social media.

“The photo was very simple but very powerful,” Butler said. “It sent a big message that we’re in this together. We’re standing with you.”

MU senior DeShaunya Ware, another photo-challenge participant, shared Butler’s sentiment.

“I’m just here today because black lives are important,”  Ware said. “And we’ve had a lot of losses, and I like to refer to them as the black sacrifice. Nobody deserves to have their life taken away from them. I’m here to show my support because I am Mike Brown.”

Despite incidents of violence after dark, daytime protesting in Ferguson has been peaceful, Ebonie Young said. Young, who graduated from MU in 2012, was in Ferguson on Sunday. She began her day at the site of the Ferguson QuikTrip that was burned down during riots on Aug. 10, where protestors gathered with chants of “Hands up, don’t shoot,” and “No justice, no peace.”

“It was such a welcoming atmosphere,” Young said. “There were people who were giving away chips, drinks and flowers. Every car that was passing was honking their horns. I felt like I stepped back in the 1960s for a second.”

To Butler, the chant harkens back to his experiences as a black man.

“I have been arrested and stopped by the police several times for what I would consider to be profiling,” he said. “In those instances, you fear for your life. Putting your hands up … it’s like saying, I’m unarmed, I don’t have anything against you, I’m a law-abiding citizen. Let’s look at the injustice in that system. Let’s change that.”

Young already sees change due to the movement. As an example, she used a petition being circulated on Change.org to outfit police officers with body cameras in order to hold them accountable. She nicknamed the petition the “Michael Brown Law.”

“Little old St. Louis made national coverage, and it’s opened up people’s eyes to a bigger movement,” Young said. “Change does not happen overnight. This is the beginning of something beautiful.”