Frustrated with the national coverage of demonstrations surrounding the departure of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, a few dozen folks showed up in downtown St. Louis on Sunday day to show solidarity with the policeman who killed the 18-year old.
Since policeman Darren Wilson shot Brown on Aug. 9, there have been nightly demonstrations in Ferguson. But the counterprotesters said they needed the state to understand that not everyone supported the Ferguson protests, and desired his family and Wilson to understand that there were individuals who backed them.
The protesters assembled outside KSDK TV, a nearby station they said has been biased in its coverage.
Word spread as stated by the attendees, who were white. For a $7 contribution, there were pro-Wilson T shirts, and all 55 of the attendees sold out immediately.
However, the protests around Brown's departure were not smaller than the rally. The Wilson assistants said they were worried about the family of the policeman and for the most part had little empathy for people asserting there are issues with police behaviour in Ferguson.
"If you do what the authorities tell you do -- if you are not doing anything wrong, and the policemen ask one to make a move, then you are not likely to have nothing to be worried about," said Michael Bates, 33.
When asked why the pro-Wilson rally did not have many African American attendees, John Newshaw, a retired St. Louis County police officer, said, "This seems incorrect, but I do not believe the black community comprehends the system. Again, there is an activity. They are crying about, why is not he [Wilson] detained, why is not he? Well, with no investigation being done, you can not go and put in an application for a warrant."
Newshaw criticized the Missouri Highway Patrol for "doing just what the violent protesters want" and attempting to use more communication and less power.
"They are going to keep pushing the envelope," he said of demonstrators who have gotten violent during demonstrations in Ferguson. "There is not a reason to quit. ... It is as easy as training your dog. Should youn't tell the violent protesters cease biting, imagine what, your dog's going to continue to bite."
The Brown killing goes farther in relation to the shooting and has touched a chord with many in the African American community. The power structure there's white, although many are black. Ferguson's mayor and police chief are both white, as are six of the seven council members of the town. (The seventh is Latino.) And only three members of Ferguson's 53-man police force are black. An important racial difference was found by an 2013 report in Ferguson in stops and searches, with black people twice as likely to get detained.
But Bates said he was frustrated the problem was becoming a "race thing," saying that was besides the point.
"If everyone only quit with the racism thing, it would all just go away and everything would head to court and come out with how the law is assumed to get it done. Rioting and everything in the roads does not get anything done," Bates said.
The Missouri Highway Patrol, which will be in charge of security held a curfew that was second in effect for Sunday night, morning. One man was shot while the first curfew was in effect, and seven individuals were detained in the early hours of Sunday morning.
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