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Black Familial Pleas For Peace
A mural in words
On August 9, 2014 Michael Brown, a black teenager, was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and riots erupted for a week. On August 15 Michael Brown’s family expressed they didn’t want any violence, but the following day, due to looting the night before, a state of emergency was declared.
That November the grand jury didn’t indict the officer that killed Michael Brown. NBC reported, “Violence, looting, fires and gunshots erupted.” Again, the Brown family asked for protesters to remain peaceful.
In March 2015, Ferguson’s police chief resigned due to public pressure, but hours later two Ferguson police officers were shot. The Brown family issued an “anti-violence statement” condemning the shooting and rejecting all violence aimed at law enforcement. The Brown family, specifically, denounced the actions of “stand-alone agitators” who unsuccessfully attempted to derail the otherwise peaceful and non-violent Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality.
One month later, April 12, 2015, Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, was arrested by the Baltimore police and died on April 19 due to injuries he sustained while being transported in a police van. The momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement carried over to Baltimore, but, on April 27, after Freddie…