Ferguson Marks 1st Anniversary of Michael Brown’s Death

He said his family is still grieving, but he believes his son’s legacy can be seen in the increased awareness of police shootings, and renewed skepticism when officers describe their side of events leading up to those shootings. This protest happened in December.

Wilson is long gone, having resigned in November, shortly after a St. Louis County grand jury cleared him of wrongdoing.

A grand jury chose not to charge Wilson and that decision led to more unrest. Police claim Brown physically assaulted the officer and tried to reach for his weapon inside a police vehicle.

9, 2014, shooting of the black 18-year-old, whose death galvanized the “Black Lives Matter” movement and months of protests in the St. Louis suburb and beyond.

The 40-year-old Bell now sees reason for optimism, ticking off recent developments: a fresh focus on community policing, town hall meetings, court changes and new appointments to key posts – including a municipal judge, interim police chief and interim city manager. All three are black.

Numerous task forces have formed to address city problems. Some black leaders questioned whether the prosecutor’s deep family connections to police would affect his ability to be impartial.

Currently, only 14 of St. Louis County’s 52 police agencies are certified, Nixon said. “When the talk becomes reality then we’ll stop”. A black 18-year-old killed on a street in his own neighborhood.

“We are not hopeless”, Anderson told CNN. “We’re all in this together”.

A 17-year-old was arrested on Saturday night after firing at a 22-year-old man in a strip mall parking lot, police said.

So far, only 10% of the force is black. Numerous Ferguson police officers at the scene wore white polo shirts rather than their regular uniforms.

“I moved out of Ferguson“. “But we’re working on that”.

There is still a push to try and remove Mayor James Knowles after two failed recall attempts. “Now they are more tolerant”. “That issue has stopped everything from moving forward”.

A federal review found that the officer, Darren Wilson, broke no laws when he shot Brown. “But if you still have one there, the weeds can grow back again”.

“Change is hard and takes time”.

“For whatever reason in the past — either through lack of communication, lack of outreach — there were segments of the community that really felt like they were disaffected and not really part of the community”, said Knowles, who is white.

“Essentially, what they are doing is dismissing the efforts of everybody else who doesn’t do things exactly the way they do”.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. He says he and his wife have been threatened for their stance.

Pausing along the route at a permanent memorial for his son, Michael Brown Sr. said, “Miss you”.

Events including a concert, marches and a moment of silence have been planned for the weekend in Ferguson, with many of them organized by Brown Sr.

Organizers of some of the weekend activities have pledged a day of civil disobedience on Monday, but have not yet offered specific details. He said a visit to Ferguson just days after the incident changed him. Time has not healed anything for the family, Michael Brown Sr. said.

The street was the site of protests, looting and riots in the aftermath of Mr Brown’s death.

Some of those marching shouted: “Hands up, don’t shoot”, and “We do this for who?”

That led to a confrontation inside Wilson’s police automotive.

The college footballer is the 24th unarmed black man to be killed by police this year. Only a few friends know where he lives and he barely steps outside.