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| Michael Brown Sr urges protesters to step up efforts on shooting anniversary | Michael Brown Sr urges protesters to step up efforts on shooting anniversary |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| Michael Brown’s father on Saturday urged the protest movement roused by the death of his son in Ferguson, Missouri, to intensify its efforts to reform the criminal justice system following the first anniversary of the fatal police shooting. | Michael Brown’s father on Saturday urged the protest movement roused by the death of his son in Ferguson, Missouri, to intensify its efforts to reform the criminal justice system following the first anniversary of the fatal police shooting. |
| Related: 'We do this for Mike Brown': a year on, Ferguson is a wound that won't heal | Related: 'We do this for Mike Brown': a year on, Ferguson is a wound that won't heal |
| “I see things moving in a positive way, but I don’t see enough,” Michael Brown Sr said at the site of his son’s killing, as he prepared to lead a protest march. Brown went on to say black Americans should focus on “realising what we need to do to move forward as a people”. | “I see things moving in a positive way, but I don’t see enough,” Michael Brown Sr said at the site of his son’s killing, as he prepared to lead a protest march. Brown went on to say black Americans should focus on “realising what we need to do to move forward as a people”. |
| Brown’s 18-year-old son, Michael Jr, was shot dead by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, following a confrontation on a residential side street on 9 August 2014. His death led to a wave of protests and riots that rippled out from the St Louis suburb across the US. | Brown’s 18-year-old son, Michael Jr, was shot dead by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, following a confrontation on a residential side street on 9 August 2014. His death led to a wave of protests and riots that rippled out from the St Louis suburb across the US. |
| After laying soft toys on the spot in the middle of Canfield Drive where his son came to rest, Brown spoke of his persistent grief. | After laying soft toys on the spot in the middle of Canfield Drive where his son came to rest, Brown spoke of his persistent grief. |
| “I hurt every day,” he said. “I have to stay moving, going, running, just to keep me from going insane.” | “I hurt every day,” he said. “I have to stay moving, going, running, just to keep me from going insane.” |
| A weekend of events to mark the anniversary began in earnest on Friday evening as a few hundred people demonstrated at the scene of Brown’s shooting and outside the Ferguson police headquarters. Commanders allowed protesters to gather in the road and remained largely out of sight. In the year since Brown’s death officers have donned riot gear and confronted people for blocking traffic during protests, leading to dozens of arrests. | A weekend of events to mark the anniversary began in earnest on Friday evening as a few hundred people demonstrated at the scene of Brown’s shooting and outside the Ferguson police headquarters. Commanders allowed protesters to gather in the road and remained largely out of sight. In the year since Brown’s death officers have donned riot gear and confronted people for blocking traffic during protests, leading to dozens of arrests. |
| Brown said on Saturday he hoped calm would continue to prevail among those gathering in Ferguson. | Brown said on Saturday he hoped calm would continue to prevail among those gathering in Ferguson. |
| “I want to have a peaceful weekend with no drama and no stupidity, so we can just have some type of peace,” he said. | “I want to have a peaceful weekend with no drama and no stupidity, so we can just have some type of peace,” he said. |
| The unity that broke out among disparate local groups in the days following his son’s death should be recaptured, Brown said. | The unity that broke out among disparate local groups in the days following his son’s death should be recaptured, Brown said. |
| “We all came together,” he said. “Every set that was out here, everybody who had problems with anybody – it squashed all of that. We just came together to make a movement, and that was beautiful.” | “We all came together,” he said. “Every set that was out here, everybody who had problems with anybody – it squashed all of that. We just came together to make a movement, and that was beautiful.” |
| The 38-year-old led dozens of supporters, relatives and friends in a march to Normandy high school, from which Brown had graduated weeks before his death. As noon approached, police following in patrol cars handed out water and popsicles to marchers as they walked five miles in the Missouri summer humidity. | |
| Brown and his closest supporters wore t-shirts bearing a print of a widely circulated photograph of his son wearing high school graduation robes. The shirts also featured the slogan “chosen for change”, which is also the name of a nonprofit foundation established by Brown in his son’s memory that aims to “empower youth and strengthen families”. | Brown and his closest supporters wore t-shirts bearing a print of a widely circulated photograph of his son wearing high school graduation robes. The shirts also featured the slogan “chosen for change”, which is also the name of a nonprofit foundation established by Brown in his son’s memory that aims to “empower youth and strengthen families”. |
| In an interview with the Guardian, Captain Ron Johnson, the Missouri Highway Patrol commander who became the public face of the police response to protests last August, paid tribute to Brown for his work over the past year. | In an interview with the Guardian, Captain Ron Johnson, the Missouri Highway Patrol commander who became the public face of the police response to protests last August, paid tribute to Brown for his work over the past year. |
| “I think for a father to keep the legacy of his son alive for the betterment of our community and really the betterment of the nation is commendable,” said Johnson. | “I think for a father to keep the legacy of his son alive for the betterment of our community and really the betterment of the nation is commendable,” said Johnson. |
| “As a parent I can imagine the pain of this time right now, this upcoming anniversary … and so I definitely have admiration for him, sympathy for him and his family and pray that God gives them the strength to make it through this weekend.” | “As a parent I can imagine the pain of this time right now, this upcoming anniversary … and so I definitely have admiration for him, sympathy for him and his family and pray that God gives them the strength to make it through this weekend.” |
| At times pausing for composure, Brown said he had felt none of the benefits of the victories claimed by protesters in the past year, such as the criminal charges brought against officers who fatally shot unarmed African American men in South Carolina and Ohio, or reforms to criminal justice systems in Ferguson and elsewhere. | At times pausing for composure, Brown said he had felt none of the benefits of the victories claimed by protesters in the past year, such as the criminal charges brought against officers who fatally shot unarmed African American men in South Carolina and Ohio, or reforms to criminal justice systems in Ferguson and elsewhere. |
| I hurt every day. I have to stay moving, going, running, just to keep me from going insane | I hurt every day. I have to stay moving, going, running, just to keep me from going insane |
| “I lost my boy. Ain’t nothing been accomplished for me,” said Brown. “There’s some families that have got justice off Michael Brown Jr’s legacy, and that helped them. But I’m still trying to get through.” | “I lost my boy. Ain’t nothing been accomplished for me,” said Brown. “There’s some families that have got justice off Michael Brown Jr’s legacy, and that helped them. But I’m still trying to get through.” |
| A grand jury declined last November to bring criminal charges against Wilson for the fatal shooting. The US Department of Justice decided against prosecuting the officer on civil rights charges. Wilson has left the Ferguson police department but remains in the St Louis area. | A grand jury declined last November to bring criminal charges against Wilson for the fatal shooting. The US Department of Justice decided against prosecuting the officer on civil rights charges. Wilson has left the Ferguson police department but remains in the St Louis area. |
| Earlier this year Brown and Lesley McSpadden, Michael Jr’s mother, filed a civil lawsuit against Wilson and the Ferguson police department, accusing them of causing the wrongful death of their son. But on Saturday, Brown said the outcome of the case would change little. | Earlier this year Brown and Lesley McSpadden, Michael Jr’s mother, filed a civil lawsuit against Wilson and the Ferguson police department, accusing them of causing the wrongful death of their son. But on Saturday, Brown said the outcome of the case would change little. |
| “A loss is a loss,” he said. “It don’t matter about no money, or winning no case, and none of that. You still lost your kid, your child.” | “A loss is a loss,” he said. “It don’t matter about no money, or winning no case, and none of that. You still lost your kid, your child.” |