Hundreds of people have observed four and a half minutes of silence to mark one year since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead by a US police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.
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The march late Sunday morning begins at the site where Brown, who was black and unarmed, was fatally shot by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson on August. 9, 2014. A grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November, but the shooting helped spur a nationwide “Black Lives Matter” movement that raised hard questions about law enforcement treatment of minorities and police use of military-grade equipment while controlling crowds.
A year later, Brown’s death and the ensuing protests that engulfed the predominantly black St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Mo., have changed hundreds of lives and unleashed a national debate on race and policing that continues to dominate headlines today, while Ferguson quietly struggles forward.
The gravesite of Michael Brown, bottom left, is marked with a piece of stone with “MB” painted on it inside St. Peter’s Cemetery Sunday, August 9, 2015, in Normandy, Mo.
They will also stage a silent march to a church and hold a religious service.
In what was a peaceful protest, local residents, religious leaders and activists marched through the town with many of those taking part shouting, “we do this for Mike Brown”.
He had thanked supporters before the march for not allowing what happened to his son to be “swept under the carpet”.
“As officers confronted the suspect, there was an altercation during which at least one officer discharged his weapon”, the Arlington, Texas police department said in a statement. Some carried indicators or wore shirts commemorating others who’ve been killed in confrontations with police.
The charred husks of businesses burned down by arsonists after the grand jury’s decision in November not to indict Wilson have been swept away.
It was unclear who fired the shots or the extent of any injuries, a police spokesman told reporters, but initial reports suggested they were not aimed at the marchers.
The Justice Division reached the identical conclusion in March, clearing Wilson.
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More than two-thirds of blacks think police who hurt or kill people are treated too leniently by the criminal justice system. All three have been white. The new judge, interim city manager and interim police chief are all black.
