OPINION

Hundreds protest Ferguson decision in Asheville

Staff reports
About 200 protestors gathered in downtown Asheville Tuesday to voice outrage following the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Nearly 200 people gathered in downtown Asheville Tuesday evening in response to the grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

The jury late Monday announced the decision in the shooting of Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old, by a white officer, which sparked weeks of sometimes-violent protests in August and exposed deep racial tension between many African-Americans and police.

The grand jury of nine white and three black jurors had been meeting weekly since Aug. 20 to consider evidence. The panel met for 70 hours and heard from 60 witnesses.

In Asheville, protesters gathered at Vance Monument at Pack Square shortly after 5 p.m. Protesters held signs with messages like "Jail all killer cops" and "Being black is not probable cause." A small police presence was in place at 5:15. Protesters were chanting "No justice, no peace. No racist police."

A four and a half minute period of silence was held to mirror the four and a half hours Brown spent lying in the street after his death.

"No indictment! The whole system is guilty! Join us at 5 p.m. at Vance Monument. Bring banners, signs, your friends, family and neighbors. #nojusticenopeace #blacklivesmatter #ferguson #justiceformikebrown," the Facebook invite says.

"We are keeping our sons home tomorrow and preparing for the vigil/ protest," organizer Calvin Allen said Monday. "Asheville is just such a segregated community. We want to be intentionally public with our grief and fear and anger."

Allen emphasized that he wants "people to bring their honest feelings."

"Raising black boys, you just feel so scared and vulnerable," he said. "We want empathy, not sympathy."

He said the ultimate goal "would be to demilitarize the police, for them to come into our black community and treat us as people, not potential threats."

Late Tuesday afternoon, more than 300 people had said they would attend the event.

"It's such a small number compared to the population of Asheville as a whole," Allen said during a Facebook chat at around 11:30 p.m. Monday, when 93 people said they planned to attend the event.

"And, honestly, I wish this whole thing was unnecessary. I wish the courts gave us the justice and there was no need to bring our pain and betrayal to the public in this way.I am grateful that it won't be just a few of us out there, and yet, I cannot say I am heartened."

Allen also said he wants "Asheville to know that it happens here too... as much as we like to idealize our progressive community, it was just last year that the APD killed AJ Marion here," Allen said. "A black boy who has graduated high school and was looking forward to college, not so different from Mike."

In July, a city police officer did not face charges in the fatal shooting of a teenager who led police on a lengthy foot chase following a residential break-in.

The decision came 10 months after 19-year-old Alexander Jamar Marion, a former star running back at Reynolds High School, was killed by a single bullet to the face.

District Attorney Ron Moore said the officer was justified in his use of force given the circumstances on Sept. 29 near The Meadows Apartments. According to a State Bureau of Investigation report: Multiple officers saw Marion with a gun during a chase that lasted nearly an hour, officers heard a gun discharged and one officer said Marion pointed a gun at him at one point. Marion did not have the gun when he was shot.

A police car is set on fire after a group of protesters vandalize the vehicle after the announcement of the grand jury decision Monday in Ferguson, Missouri.

Within minutes of the announcement by St. Louis County's top prosecutor Monday night, crowds began pouring into Ferguson streets to protest the decision. Twelve commercial buildings in Ferguson burned down during protests that erupted after the grand jury's decision was announced, and firefighters responded to blazes at eight others, fire officials said. Other businesses were looted, and 12 vehicles were torched.

St. Louis County Police confirmed officers used tear gas to disperse crowds. Hundreds of National Guardsmen have been called in to the St. Louis suburb in an attempt to keep order.

Protests with thousands of people also were reported in cities across the U.S., including Seattle, New York, Memphis and Los Angeles.

In a late-night speech from the White House following the verdict, President Barack Obama called for calm.

"We are a nation built on the rule of law, so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make," Obama said.

Brown's family issued a statement asking people to keep their protests peaceful.

"Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction," the statement said.

For more information about the Asheville event, visit the Facebook page. Check back at CITIZEN-TIMES.com for updates on this developing story.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.