What Little I Saw

There was a second day of protests in St. Louis on Tuesday. As I write this late that evening there has not been more violence. Two thousand National Guard troops are on the streets. People are demanding to know where they were last night, when many businesses in Ferguson were burned or looted. Paranoid theories are in the air. Some of them may be right.

We knew that there would be a march or rally downtown. Our office building is off in a corner of the district and we didn't expect trouble. However, about 2 in the afternoon we saw a crowd of people coming up 4th Street. A few hundred people marched up an exit ramp from Interstate 70, strung themselves across it and blocked the busy highway for about twenty minutes. These pictures were taken from our office windows. I didn't have a very long lens with me and they are greatly cropped. As you can see in the pictures below, a group of police in full riot gear pushed the protesters off the road. We saw no violence but I read later that the police used pepper spray.

This is a very hard time for us. There was conflicting eye-witness testimony about what happened on the day of the shooting. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCullough's conduct has been sharply criticized. Most people don't know that McCullough's father was a St. Louis policeman who was shot to death by a black man.

People have fierce opinions, which may or may not be based on the ambiguous evidence. It's a good time to leave The Lou for a while. More soon from another location.                    

Hands Up Don't Shoot: Ferguson, Missouri

Most of my readers know about the events following the death of Michael Brown, an 18 year old black man, shot by a white policeman on August 9 in our suburb of Ferguson. The metro area has been on low boil ever since. Some of the protests became violent and there were a lot arrests. Many have demanded that criminal charges be brought against the policeman, Darren Wilson.

That issue has been pending before an institution unique to American's criminal system, a grand jury. There have been fears of riots if Wilson is not indicted. The city is on edge. All area police are on duty. Hundreds of National Guard and FBI personnel have been brought it.

The decision was just announced at 8:25 PM our time. Wilson was not charged. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCullough gave a detailed summary of the procedure and evidence on TV tonight. As I write this late Tuesday we do not know what will happen in and to St. Louis next.

I found the image above stenciled on a bus shelter. It illustrates the common chant of the protesters: hands up, don't shoot. All of us here might wonder if we should call the number below. 

                        

Remember Michael Brown

I assume that everyone knows about Michael Brown, the young black man who was shot and killed by a policeman in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri. No need for further editorializing from me. The continuing passion was shown by banners inside the Cotton Belt Building last weekend.