More than 100 protesters marched through St Louis late on Sunday, stepping up pressure on a grand jury to indict a white police officer for shooting dead an unarmed black teenager.
Michael Brown, an 18-year-old high school graduate planning to go to technical college, was shot at least six times by Darren Wilson in the suburb of Ferguson on Aug. 9, inflaming racial tensions.
The shooting sparked weeks of sometimes violent protests and a nationwide debate about police tactics, revived again with the death on Sunday of a 12-year-old boy shot by police while waving what turned out to be toy gun in Cleveland, Ohio.
Photo: Reuters
Sunday’s demonstration in the Shaw neighborhood of St Louis was the largest of five consecutive nights of protests as the city braces for a decision expected by the end of the month from a grand jury on whether Wilson should be prosecuted.
“Hands up, don’t shoot,” and “This is what democracy looks like,” chanted the crowd, banging drums and swaying to the rhythm of the words. “The whole damn system is guilty as hell.”
Holding placards saying “Black Lives Matter,” men and women of all ages and ethnic backgrounds went on a nearly two-hour march, weaving through the traffic and holding up intersections but dispersing without incident.
Police were criticized for a heavy-handed response to the demonstrations in August.
“I would like to see an indictment because I think it actually helps the community for this person to go to trial,” said Alex Giltner, a 31-year-old studying for a doctorate in theology.
“You’ve got social prejudice that is deeply ingrained in the people,” he said. “What needs specifically to reform? Simply everything.”
Teacher Angela Kelly marched alongside her son.
“It’s a good showing. We’re 107 days in now, and, no matter what happens, this is about more than Michael Brown. It’s about police brutality, it’s about racism that is still everywhere in our society,” she said.
“I hope that there is an indictment. I think that this movement is going to non-violently continue, no matter what happens,” she said.
One young woman, a youth worker, came from Atlanta, Georgia, to take part in the protests.
“I feel like this is a pivotal moment in American history, and we’re going to look back and wonder who was on the right side of justice and who wasn’t,” said the woman, who gave her name only as Megan.
“It’s been a lot calmer than I expected. I think a lot of the protesters really want an indictment, and they really want justice, and they don’t want violence,” she said.
Police have stepped up security as they brace for the grand jury announcement, with many residents fearing that protests could turn violent if Wilson is not indicted.
Outside the Buzz Westfall Justice Center, where the grand jury has been meeting in the suburb of Clayton, metal interlocking fences and orange plastic barricades sealed off the building and the road in front of the entrance.
St Louis County informed businesses and residents that they were securing buildings in downtown Clayton and temporarily restricting traffic in anticipation that protests could turn violent after the jury’s announcement.
The jury can either indict Wilson, meaning he could face trial for Brown’s death, or determine there is no case for him to answer.
Wilson reportedly told the jury he acted in self-defense after tussling with Brown. Others say Brown had his hands in the air when he was shot dead, his body left in the street for several hours.
Ferguson, the mostly black suburb of 21,000, which has an overwhelmingly white police force and town government, is on a knife edge. Owners have boarded up shops and businesses on the street where protests were concentrated in August, also braced for a violent fallout.
Pastor Willis Johnson told worshipers at Wellspring Church in Ferguson that the church would offer prayer, educational activities for children, free meals, counseling and group therapy after the announcement.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese