Ferguson’s legacy: Six deaths and a culture of fear
Two young men were found dead inside torched cars. Three others died of apparent suicides. Another collapsed on a bus, his death ruled an overdose.
Six deaths, all involving men with connections to protests in Ferguson, Missouri, drew attention on social media and speculation in the activist community that something sinister was at play.
Police say there is no evidence the deaths have anything to do with the protests stemming from a white police officer’s fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014.
But some activists say their concerns about a possible connection arise out of a culture of fear that persists in Ferguson 4 1⁄2 years after Brown’s death, citing threats — mostly anonymous — that protest leaders continue to receive. The Rev Darryl Gray said he found a box in his car. A 1.8m python was inside.
No arrests have been made in the two homicides. St Louis County police spokesman Shawn McGuire said witnesses have refused to come forward, leaving detectives with no answers.
Ferguson erupted in protests in August 2014 after officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Brown during a street confrontation. Brown was unarmed, but Wilson said he fired in selfdefence when the black teenager came at him menacingly. A grand jury declined to charge Wilson in November 2014.
Deandre Joshua’s body was found inside a burned car blocks from the protest. The 20-year-old was shot in the head before the car was torched. Darren Seals, 29, shown on video comforting Brown’s mother that same night, met an almost identical fate two years later.
MarShawn McCarrel of Columbus, Ohio, shot himself in February 2016 outside the front door of the Ohio Statehouse, police said.
Edward Crawford, 27, fatally shot himself in May 2017, police said. A photo of Crawford at a Ferguson protest was part of the St Louis PostDispatch’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage. In October, Danye Jones, 24, was found dead at his home. The death was ruled a suicide.
Bassem Masri, 31, a Palestinian American who livestreamed video of Ferguson demonstrations, was found unresponsive on a bus in November. Toxicology results showed he died of an overdose of fentanyl.
Activists and observers say that while they see no clear connection between the deaths and the protests, they can’t help but wonder about the thoroughness of the investigations.
“Something is happening,” said Cori Bush, a frequent leader of the Ferguson protests. “I’ve been vocal about the things that I’ve experienced and still experience — the harassment, the intimidation, the death threats, the death attempts.”
She suspects white supremacists or police sympathisers. Living under constant threat is exhausting, she said, but she won’t give in. “They shut us up and they win.”