Above: Protesters march Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. Protesters again gathered Thursday evening, walking in laps near the spot where Michael Brown was shot. By Jeff Roberson/AP.
Incredible Number of Warrants and Fines Add to the Poverty of the Residents of Ferguson and Demonstrate How Police Intensively Target the Black Community
The second relatively calm night in Ferguson as the Governor Nixon withdraws the national guard and Attorney General shows the people of Ferguson that Washington, DC is paying attention. The grand jury process began with protesters outside, Nixon saying he will not remove the prosecutor from the case and the prosecutor, who many see as biased in favor of the police, saying he is staying. The St. Louis Post Dispatch described the scene:
. . . about 50 protesters gathered Thursday morning outside the County Justice Center in Clayton, where McCulloch has his office and the grand jury is meeting. State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, told the crowd she was there to deliver an online petition bearing 70,000 signatures demanding a special prosecutor.
“Those signatures are coming from everywhere, throughout this country and worldwide,” she said. “People have made a statement that they have no confidence in (McCulloch’s) ability to be fair and impartial … They don’t think he will do the right thing.”
McCulloch said his office will be presenting evidence to the grand jury for a while, probably through mid-October.
An NBC News video shows police blocking Senator Nasheed from crossing the line to deliver the petitions.
A new report from Arch City Defenders, a non-profit legal defense organization, that showed the depth of police harassment the people of Ferguson have faced for years. They reported that police hand out 3 warrants per household every year and $321 in fines. They cite the Ferguson Municipal Courts:
Ferguson is a city located in northern St. Louis County with 21,203 residents living in 8,192 households. The majority (67%) of residents are African-American…22% of residents live below the poverty level.
…Despite Ferguson’s relative poverty, fines and court fees comprise the second largest source of revenue for the city, a total of $2,635,400. In 2013, the Ferguson Municipal Court disposed of 24,532 warrants and 12,018 cases, or about 3 warrants and 1.5 cases per household.
The protest that got our attention was one that occurred before sunset when a small group of people quietly laid a long, neat row of long-stem roses along Canfield Drive, where Brown was shot. A memorial to Brown was put in place at the Canfield Green Apartments at the intersection of Canfield Drive and Caddiefield Road where Michael Brown was shot.
Unless otherwise noted, photos are from Twitter.