Ferguson Protesters Reach the Missouri Capital With Their Message
By ELI YOKLEY
DEC. 5, 2014
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — After a week of walking from the Ferguson, Mo., home of Michael Brown, whose killing by a police officer set off a national debate on race and police tactics, demonstrators led by the N.A.A.C.P. arrived at another home on Friday: the official residence of Gov. Jay Nixon.
There, near the end of their 130-mile journey from the St. Louis suburbs, more than 100 people chanted the now-familiar “hands up, don’t shoot” and carried signs protesting Mr. Brown’s death and that of the Staten Island resident Eric Garner.
“We marched because Michael Brown’s life mattered,” said Cornell William Brooks, the N.A.A.C.P. president. “We marched because Eric Garner mattered. We marched because our children’s lives matter. Black lives matter. We march because all lives matter.”
The rights group has asked that Mr. Nixon appoint a special prosecutor to examine Mr. Brown’s case after a St. Louis County grand jury chose not to indict Darren Wilson, the officer who shot him.
But during Friday’s rally, Mr. Nixon, who met with N.A.A.C.P. leaders on Wednesday and whose office said he was not considering such action, was far from Jefferson City. In a written statement, he praised the organization. “I’m confident that together we can make meaningful change to address the challenges underlying the events in Ferguson, and build a future of greater peace, opportunity and fairness for all,” he said.
Mr. Nixon had called up the National Guard on Nov. 17, in advance of the grand jury’s decision. On Friday, the state said it had incurred costs of $11 million in handling unrest in the Ferguson area over the shooting.
While Friday’s rally focused on Mr. Brown, Mr. Brooks said the decision by a New York grand jury not to indict the white police officer who put Mr. Garner, who was black, in a fatal chokehold changed the tone of the march. “It increased the determination of our steps and our resolve,” he said.
The news arrived just days after the group began its march last Saturday. Marchers started at the Canfield Green apartment complex where Mr. Brown was shot. Each night, the group marched as far as it could, and then buses took members back to a church. Each morning, buses would drop them off where they had finished the night before, and they would keep marching.
Along the way, they faced sometimes angry opposition. On Wednesday in Rosebud, Mo., about 50 miles east of Jefferson City, one man waved a large Confederate flag and shouted insults as the group marched past. “No peace, no welfare checks!” someone yelled.
Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., said the opposition was disheartening. But he said it was often offset by others lending support. “There was always someone coming forward giving us food, refreshment and water,” Mr. Pruitt said. “They were marching with us.”
At its roots, the march was against racial disparities in the application of the law, Mr. Pruitt and other leaders said. But he said the law enforcement officers traveling with the group — including members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the United States Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service — made them feel safe. “I wasn’t scared, because law enforcement in every county and municipality did their job,” Mr. Pruitt said.
Also Friday, St. Louis officials said the police had completed their inquiry into the Oct. 8 shooting death of Vonderrit D. Myers Jr., a black teenager, by a white police officer who was off duty and working for a private security company. The death spurred protests in St. Louis and has been a rallying cry for demonstrators elsewhere. Mr. Myers’s family said that he was unarmed, but the police said that he had opened fire.
The circuit attorney, Jennifer M. Joyce, said the police had not recommended any charges against the officer, but she said prosecutors would review the findings, which she insisted “do not, in any way, dictate the actions to be taken by my office.”
Alan Blinder contributed reporting from Atlanta and Monica Davey from Chicago.
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| State capitol building in Jefferson, Missouri where marchers arrived. |
DEC. 5, 2014
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — After a week of walking from the Ferguson, Mo., home of Michael Brown, whose killing by a police officer set off a national debate on race and police tactics, demonstrators led by the N.A.A.C.P. arrived at another home on Friday: the official residence of Gov. Jay Nixon.
There, near the end of their 130-mile journey from the St. Louis suburbs, more than 100 people chanted the now-familiar “hands up, don’t shoot” and carried signs protesting Mr. Brown’s death and that of the Staten Island resident Eric Garner.
“We marched because Michael Brown’s life mattered,” said Cornell William Brooks, the N.A.A.C.P. president. “We marched because Eric Garner mattered. We marched because our children’s lives matter. Black lives matter. We march because all lives matter.”
The rights group has asked that Mr. Nixon appoint a special prosecutor to examine Mr. Brown’s case after a St. Louis County grand jury chose not to indict Darren Wilson, the officer who shot him.
But during Friday’s rally, Mr. Nixon, who met with N.A.A.C.P. leaders on Wednesday and whose office said he was not considering such action, was far from Jefferson City. In a written statement, he praised the organization. “I’m confident that together we can make meaningful change to address the challenges underlying the events in Ferguson, and build a future of greater peace, opportunity and fairness for all,” he said.
Mr. Nixon had called up the National Guard on Nov. 17, in advance of the grand jury’s decision. On Friday, the state said it had incurred costs of $11 million in handling unrest in the Ferguson area over the shooting.
While Friday’s rally focused on Mr. Brown, Mr. Brooks said the decision by a New York grand jury not to indict the white police officer who put Mr. Garner, who was black, in a fatal chokehold changed the tone of the march. “It increased the determination of our steps and our resolve,” he said.
The news arrived just days after the group began its march last Saturday. Marchers started at the Canfield Green apartment complex where Mr. Brown was shot. Each night, the group marched as far as it could, and then buses took members back to a church. Each morning, buses would drop them off where they had finished the night before, and they would keep marching.
Along the way, they faced sometimes angry opposition. On Wednesday in Rosebud, Mo., about 50 miles east of Jefferson City, one man waved a large Confederate flag and shouted insults as the group marched past. “No peace, no welfare checks!” someone yelled.
Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., said the opposition was disheartening. But he said it was often offset by others lending support. “There was always someone coming forward giving us food, refreshment and water,” Mr. Pruitt said. “They were marching with us.”
At its roots, the march was against racial disparities in the application of the law, Mr. Pruitt and other leaders said. But he said the law enforcement officers traveling with the group — including members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the United States Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service — made them feel safe. “I wasn’t scared, because law enforcement in every county and municipality did their job,” Mr. Pruitt said.
Also Friday, St. Louis officials said the police had completed their inquiry into the Oct. 8 shooting death of Vonderrit D. Myers Jr., a black teenager, by a white police officer who was off duty and working for a private security company. The death spurred protests in St. Louis and has been a rallying cry for demonstrators elsewhere. Mr. Myers’s family said that he was unarmed, but the police said that he had opened fire.
The circuit attorney, Jennifer M. Joyce, said the police had not recommended any charges against the officer, but she said prosecutors would review the findings, which she insisted “do not, in any way, dictate the actions to be taken by my office.”
Alan Blinder contributed reporting from Atlanta and Monica Davey from Chicago.
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