Rev. Osagyefo Sekou was found ‘Not Guilty’ today after a jury deliberated for just twenty minutes on charges from some 500 days ago, when he knelt in prayer outside the Ferguson Police Station during one of the many nights of protest in response to the death of Michael Brown Jr..
“I am indebted to everyone for their support and prayers, and am blessed to be supported by our movement,” Reverend Sekou, Bayard Rustin Fellow with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, said. “I am relieved I will not be sent to jail, but grieve for all my sisters and brothers who routinely face these types of trumped up charges, and for those who never live to see a courtroom,” “It was clear from the rhetoric in court that this was not merely a misdemeanor charge against a preacher who knelt between armed agents of the state and those exercising their First Amendment right to demand justice for Michael Brown. The entire movement was put on trial yet again, and even in the face of a concerted effort and a mountain of money, a jury found it not guilty.”
The verdict just weeks after Ferguson Prosecutor Stephanie Karr was forced to drop charges against six activists on the first morning of their trial following a year long prosecution, and on the same day of the expected vote on the Consent Decree reforms Ferguson insists risks bankrupting them.
“Ms. Karr and her firm Curtis, Heinz, Garrett and O’Keefe are a case study in how systems of abusive policing for profit develop and flourish,” said attorney Jerryl Christmas. “A private law firm has cornered the work of enforcing a system of corrupt justice. Ms. Karr was singled out in the Department of Justice report for her misconduct, yet continues to serve as City Attorney of Ferguson, Calverton Park, Edmundson, Bellerive Acres, City Prosecutor of Ferguson, Bel-Nor, Hazelwood and Special Counsel in Brentwood.
Sekou says his thoughts are with those he feels have been casualties of a broken justice system that victimizes people of color.
“My heart breaks at this time for Joshua Williams, our son, who languishes in the belly of the beast while those who shoot us dead in the street, those who ensure they evade justice and those who profit from the systems of white supremacy and incarceration walk free,” Sekou said.
“We also hold up the family of Akai Gurley as they await a verdict on his callous killing by Officer Peter Liang.
We will continue to resist a system that grants police virtual impunity to take black lives, we will continue to dismantle the pillars of white supremacy this country was founded on and reclaim the soul of our nation.”
