'Weekend of resistance' planned in St. Louis over Michael Brown's death

A weekend of protests over racial injustice and the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri policeman began Friday, with anger in the St. Louis area fanned by the recent shooting death of another local black youth by an off-duty police officer.

Regular demonstrations, attracting national rights activists, have rocked Ferguson since Brown was shot dead on Aug. 9, with activists calling for the prosecution of Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown. Protesters have pointed to the possible role that race may have played in the case — Brown was black, Wilson is white.

This weekend’s demonstrations and vigils will take place as a Missouri grand jury weighs evidence against the officer to determine whether he should stand trial over the incident.

“Black lives matter — that is the whole point,” said Johnetta Elzie, 25, an organizer of the weekend’s events and curator of the Ferguson Protestor Newsletter. 

“The whole thing is centered around justice for Mike Brown, but being that there has been another 18 year-old black boy killed, that has kind of put more fuel to the fire,” she added, referring to Vonderitt Myers, a black teen shot Wednesday night by an off-duty white St. Louis police officer.

Police say the 32-year-old officer in that incident, a six-year veteran of the force, became suspicious when Myers ran away from him. When the officer made chase, police say the teen fired a stolen gun three times at the cop, who responded with 17 shots. One shot fatally struck Myers in the head.

Organizers expect thousands of people to attend the weekend demonstrations, dubbed the “weekend of resistance.” Solidarity events are planned around the country, including in New York City and Los Angeles.

An umbrella organization of protest groups, Ferguson October, has laid out an itinerary for the weekend. Plans include church meetings, concerts, rallies and a sleepover next to the Ferguson police station.

“I think that these four days of marches, rallies, events and civil disobedience will give folks the energy to go back home and work in their own communities,” said Mervyn Marcano, a spokesman for Ferguson October. “This isn’t about one bad cop, we want to see a national shift in how police operate in black and brown communities.”

Marcano cited social media as “underpinning” the organization of the weekend’s events, with the Twitter hashtags #blacklivesmatter, #fergusonoctober and #weekendofresistance helping participants and organizers to communicate directly.

“This is the kind of thing black and brown communities have been dealing with for a long time, but now it is getting attention because there’s video,” Marcano said, referring to video and photos taken by witnesses of alleged police brutality nationwide. “Police deal with black and brown bodies very differently than they deal with white ones.”

Another group, thisisthemovement.org, is offering advice for protesters who might face arrest. The group’s online guide directs protest supporters to contribute to a “bail out” fund.

“Have a protest buddy,” one guide reads. “At least one person in your group needs to know your D.O.B. (date of birth) and full legal name in case you are arrested. Make sure that your phone is charged, password protected, and functional.”

On Thursday night, St. Louis police used pepper spray and batons on protesters after a peaceful vigil turned into a series of skirmishes and stand-offs between the two groups. Police arrested eight people. And one police officer, allegedly hit by a brick, suffered an arm injury. The St. Louis police department tweeted photos of damaged police cars and a knife that a demonstrator allegedly hurled at the police.

“We certainly hope the police will be on their best behavior,” said Marcano, referring to this weekend’s planned events. “But what we see on a consistent basis is, when police approach in force, they set off violent confrontation, like macing people like they did last night.”

Sgt. Brian Schellman, a spokesman for the St. Louis County Police Department, said his department will handle security at most weekend events.

“Our goal is to not have to use any non-lethal weapons," Schellman told Al Jazeera in an email. “It is always our goal to keep not only the protestors and police safe, but also the citizens living in those communities.”

Schellman said there are 60 municipalities in St. Louis County, and he wasn't sure which ones would come to assist with the weekend’s events.

St. Louis County Police and Missouri Highway Patrol will monitor protests in Ferguson, along with Ferguson city police, the department responsible for Brown’s shooting.

In a statement distributed through their attorneys, Michael Brown’s family urged protesters not to break the law in voicing their views. 

“We understand first-hand the powerless frustration felt by people of all walks of life regarding their interactions with law enforcement,” the family said in a statement. “And for that reason, as Michael Brown's parents, we ask that those coming to show support for our son do so within the law."  

Elzie, from the Ferguson Protestor Newsletter, said that Friday demonstrations will focus on St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch. Elzie and others believe McCulloch should recuse himself from overseeing the case against Wilson because of statements he has made in the past about black victims of police shootings.  

“People believe he is a police apologist and that he sides with the actual police force versus the people,” Elzie said, citing a case in which he disparaged two unarmed black men killed by police gunfire in 2001.

“These guys are bums,” McCulloch said at the time, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Elzie and other activists say McCulloch isn’t the right prosecutor for the job and that a special prosecutor is necessary to investigate Brown’s killing.

“Nobody trusts that he will do this case justice,” she said.