FERGUSON PROTEST
Spurred by Ferguson October, marchers gather in St. Louis
Thousands of people gather Saturday in downtown St. Louis on the second day of organized rallies and marches protesting the Aug. 9 death of a black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Mo., as well as other fatal police shootings in the area and elsewhere. The protest was spurred by a national campaign dubbed Ferguson October.
David Carson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch »
st. louis » Thousands gathered Saturday for a second day of organized rallies and marches protesting Michael Brown’s death and other fatal police shootings in the St. Louis area and elsewhere.
Marchers assembled in the morning hours in downtown St. Louis, where later in the day the Cardinals were set to host the San Francisco Giants in the first gameof theNational League Championship Series.
Spurred by anational campaign dubbed Ferguson October, adiversecrowdjoined forces. Vietnam-era peace activists, New York City seminarians and hundreds of fast-food workers — bused in from Chicago, Nashville and other cities— marched alongside local residents.
Four days of events were planned. They started Friday with a march outside the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office in Clayton.
Protesters renewed calls for prosecutor Bob McCulloch to charge Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson officer, in the Aug. 9 death of Brown, a black, unarmed 18-year-old. A grand jury is reviewing the case, and the Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation.
“We still are knee deep in this situation,” said Kareem Jackson, a St. Louis rap artist and community organizer whose stage name is Tef Poe. “We have not packed up our bags, we have not gone home. This is not a flyby-night moment. This is not a made-for-TV revolution. This is real people standing up to a real problem and saying, ‘ We ain’t taking it no more.’ ”
The march came hours before the Cardinals game at Busch Stadium, blocks from the protest route. St. Louis PoliceChief SamDotson said the city had enlisted extra officers and was prepared for trouble, though he hoped for the best.
“What I ask is, if people come to have their message heard, that they do it in a respectful way,” Dotson said. “And the same thing on the other side (from police supporters). Everybody has a right to have their message heard, whether you like it or not.”
He said the city also will bolster its police presence when the St. Louis Rams host the San Francisco 49ers in a nationally televised game Monday night — the same day protesters are planning organized acts of civil disobedience.
The crowd Saturday was significantly larger than the ones at Friday’s protests in Ferguson and Clayton. While the main focus of the marchwas on recent police shootings, participants also embraced such causes as gay rights and the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. Police reported no arrests or violence Saturday afternoon.
“I have two sons and a daughter. Iwant aworld for themwhere the peoplewho are supposed to be community helpers are actually helping, where they can trust those people to protect and serve rather than control and repress,” said Ashlee Wiest-Laird, 48, a Baptist pastor from Boston.
The situation in Missouri especially resonated with Wiest-Laird. She’s white and her adopted sons, ages 14 and 11, are black.
Police were not able to provide a crowd estimate Saturday, but organizers and participants suggested the march’s size might have approached as many as 3,000.