In the three days since Judge Timothy Wilson handed down a not guilty verdict for former police officer Jason Stockley in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, protesters could be heard from blocks away while chanting at their respective demonstration sites.
“No justice, no peace” seems to be the favorite – and most applicable, since they are expressing their outrage for Stockley’s first-degree murder acquittal for the 2011 fatal shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith.
But many of those heard in Ferguson have been applied to the new wave of unrelenting direct actions – including the “Whose streets? Our streets!” chant that was appropriated by police following a mass arrest of protesters downtown last night.
But at 7 a.m. Monday morning those listening out for the protesting that many were expecting to resume heard nothing.
Marching orders were given in a whisper by State Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. As 200-plus marched down Market, starting at 16th Street, there was utter silence. They walked uncharacteristically slow for the typical fervent pace of protest march. They were almost in formation with their footsteps. The group made their way down the busy street during the Monday morning work commute in rows of 12 with their arms locked, heads held high and mouths closed.
“Grow up! Some of us have to get to work,” a man yelled out of his car window as they blocked traffic.
Aside from a “God bless you” softly spoken to the man by a clergy member in the march, the crowd never dignified him with a response. They continued until they reached their first of two destinations.
“The purpose of this action was to let people know that our presence is powerful,” Cori Bush told the crowd after they made it to the steps of City Hall. “This was power walking down this street.”
She was one of four speakers who addressed the crowd for the 10 minutes they stood on the steps of City Hall. The gates had been chained and locked by the time they arrived, though trying to occupy the building didn’t appear to be on the agenda. Still as quiet as when they commenced to marching, they listened intently as Bush spoke on their behalf.
“We’re not afraid of being arrested. We’re not afraid of being talked about,” Bush said. “We’re not afraid to do whatever it takes to say to them ‘you will stop killing us.’
With her last statement, the crowd screamed and shouted in agreement.
“How are you feeling this morning? Are you tired,” Melissa McKinnies asked.
They assured her that they weren’t.
One woman even used the exchange to deliver the first chant of the protest.
“We’re here, we’re strong…and we’ll be fighting all night long,” the woman said.
“Well, I know you’re tired, because I’m tired,” McKinnies said. “But we have to show them that we are willing and we are able to until the end – until they stop killing our people.”
Tory Russell, a familiar face from the Ferguson unrest, was next to address the crowd.
“We want to change the narrative of what’s going on,” Russell said. “Things about this movement are being misconstrued, but St. Louis is the new Selma. Let me say that again, St. Louis is the new Selma. We are not divided. We are organized. We are unified. And we are strong.”
Russell said that the “good vs. bad protester” narrative is a strategy to foster division and fear.
“They used the same tactics in Ferguson,” Russell said. “They will try to create the narrative of a good protester and a bad protester. If you are a protester, you are a protester. If you are a vandal, then you are a vandal. If you are an agitator, you’re a agitator. They are not the same.”
Russell urged them to define themselves – and hold the system accountable, in relation to the acquittal of Jason Stockley, the force imposed on protesters by law enforcement and beyond.
“We are standing here at City Hall where there are people who can call back the riot gear. We are not rioting, so why are you showing up in riot gear?” Russell asked. “The same people in this building standing with the governor on that are standing with him as they take away people’s minimum wage. They will talk about broken glass and broken windows, but not talk about broken families.”
The protesters then stopped by the St. Louis City Municipal Court building, where Franks and Russell led the crowd in a series of chants and demanded that the police civilian oversight board be granted power to “actually hold the police accountable.”
“I’m going to use African American vernacular this time,” Bush said. “Y’all gon’ stop killin’ us!”
