The sixth month anniversary mourning the tragic death of Michael Brown ends in predictable fashion.
Last night marked the 6th month anniversary of Mike Brown's death at the hands of former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. In true fashion, it wouldn't be complete without protests, vigils, and police brutality. The wounds caused by the murder of a young life, the shaming of protesters, the complete and willful disregard of due process in the justice system, and the repeated tragedies across the nation are continuously re-opened. February 9th marked one of the most outrageous abuses of power since the fateful day in August when Michael Brown was killed by Darren Wilson.
After the candlelit vigil on Canfield Drive, protesters relocated to Ferguson Police Department and participated in an action on the police department lot. They used sidewalk chalk to write messages and phrases on the asphalt and concrete. "Every 28 hours", "Black Lives Matter", "FTP"(meaning Fuck The Police), and other messages were scrawled across the lot. The important thing to remember here is that they allegedly knew this event was going to happen and did not stop them until dozens of messages were written. Several markings of "FTP" were written on a Military Police Humvee. Several more messages were written on the concrete directly in front of the police station.
Officers asked people to leave the lot and they all complied. That is important to note, because there is always the element of compliance used to shame protesters when there is an altercation with police. These youth complied with police asking them to leave the grounds.
As they left, several cop cars raced across the street and began arresting people. Several people who had absolutely nothing to do with the chalking were arrested for simply standing there. A minor was chased down by a 21-year veteran of the police force named Henry Dillworth and violently handcuffed before being taken away. Sargent Dillworth was informed that the individual was a minor to which he allegedly responded to by replying "I don't care". The minor was placed in the back of the Ferguson Police Department SUV with the help of other public officials who were not in uniform at the time of arrest, but came out of the adjacent Ferguson Fire Station. Dillworth then expressly stated that the minor was being arrested for Destruction of Property after repeated questioning and moved to assist other officers with detaining other people.
A wheelchair-bound individual live-streaming the event was knocked out of her chair and arrested. She has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a disorder of the body's connective tissue. Even the slightest physical movement in the wrong direction can cause extreme pain and deadly bleeding to occur. She was allegedly struck in the face and had her glasses thrown 10 feet away from the blow. She landed against a car after being knocked out of her wheelchair. Police then cut off her live-streaming phone (which, unfortunately, did not archive the footage) and arrested her.
Another individual who was live-streaming from his phone was suddenly arrested and thrown to the ground violently for nothing more than recording the event on his phone. The actual charge was stated as "manner of walking", which is simply a form of jaywalking according to Missouri law. The status of his footage is unknown at this time. Two officers subdued this one individual who was not resisting, then verbally threatened him to "stop resisting or we will taze you" as he was attempting to free his arm to be cuffed.
It was at this point that a legal observer and I were escorted backwards from the scene as a uniformed officer attempted to "secure the scene". I continued to film the incident as other officers not involved in arrest began to block the individuals being arrested with their bodies, obscuring the vantage points of my camera and the legal observer's camera. The officer stated that we needed to move across the street or we would be arrested for "obstructing police officers". I was standing off to the side of any arrests, clearly out of the way but still close enough to document all the officer's interactions. I argued with the officer because I was not in the way of any arrest being made. We were still told to move across the street under threat of arrest. Worried for my footage, I complied and continued to record. The legal observer did the same.
Everyone arrested that evening was released that same night. Most were given charges of Disorderly Conduct no matter how peacefully they complied. There were complaints of rough treatment, bumps, and possible bruises. The person with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome was held for over an hour before being released, despite being knocked from her chair. There were several requests to check on her well-being that took officers 30 minutes respond to. She requested an icepack, but the officers never delivered on to her while in custody. The last person was released around 1:30am Central Standard Time on February 10th, 2015.
This was possibly the closest that I have ever come to being arrested since this movement began in August. The only thing I was doing at this time is what I have always done: create a video document to ensure the truth is recorded and that people remain safe. If I was not recording, I may very well have been arrested tonight as well. I am glad that I wasn't; there were no media outlets present last night, save for one Saint Louis Post-Dispatch reporter and possibly a photographer from the Saint Louis American. Neither made the violent force used by police to strong arm arrest 8 people from a small crowd of 30 to 35 people a focal point of their news story. They also did not mention the packed crowd that swelled in size, cramming inside the Ferguson Police Department to greet people as they were being released from holding.
Unfortunately, stories like this go against the grain of popular thought and opinion of the media on the situation in Ferguson. Were it not the sixth month anniversary of Michael Brown's death, it is unlikely that any media would have been present at all to see the trampling of our First Amendment rights due to sidewalk chalk. It will continue to happen as long as the police are allowed to treat protesters like subhuman animals and people who document videos like criminals.
Now more than ever, the people have to document everything. We cannot trust the police to conduct themselves professionally or with respect for citizens. We cannot trust the mainstream press to provide an honest narrative to the events if it puts them at odds with the police or other people in power. We can only depend on ourselves to document and spread information. We can only trust our neighbors to speak truth to power and deniers that shame protesters. We can only believe in the family that we have cultivated in the streets through hardship and pain caused by law enforcement. We are the only ones that can break the chains of the status quo and the complacency of those still attempting to conform to our twisted rules of our twisted society.
This is the same society that allowed black children to bleed out and die on the street. That shoots unarmed 7 year old children while they are asleep. They flash bang toddlers in their cribs. Shoot black men for holding BB guns and replica swords. That kill black women for having mental disabilities, or kill the homeless and mentally disabled for being homeless or mentally disabled. It convicts black women for a life sentence because they fire a warning shot. The outrage may have started with Mike Brown, but the injustice has been happening for far longer. We must continue to work towards a world where Black Lives Matter as much as any other life.
Articles:
http://www.theguardian.com/...
http://www.stltoday.com/...
P.S.- Compare the comments if you dare. STL Today (The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch website) is a hotbed of thinly veiled racism. The Guardian is far more reasonable.