St. Louis Post-Dispatch Ferguson coverage - Aug. 22

T H E N O . 1 S T. L O U I S W E B S I T E A N D N E W S P A P E R

FRIDAY • 08.22.2014 • $1.50

ARRESTS ARE DOWN • MEDIA CIRCUS ABATES • FUROR OVER PROSECUTOR CONTINUES

A COOLING OFF

GOV. NIXON SAYS HE WILL WITHDRAW MISSOURI NATIONAL GUARD

CHRISTIAN GOODEN • cgooden@post-dispatch.com

Theo Murphy (left), of Florissant, and his brother Jordan Marshall, 11, light candles on Thursday at a memorial on Canfield Drive near where Michael Brown was fatally shot.

Holder visit, grand jury may have eased tension

Protesters want changes before crisis can end

Bill McClellan: Protests alone can’t bring change • A15 How teachers respond to questions about unrest • A14

FROM STAFF REPORTS

FERGUSON • Summer heat beat down upon the protest strip Thursday, but the tension seemed to be cooling.

Marchers were sparse on a hot Thursday night along West Florissant Avenue, scene of nightly protests — often tense and sometimes violent — since Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown, 18, on Aug. 9. The shooting scene, a street in the Canfield Green apartments, is just off West Florissant, and a three-block stretch of that suburban commercial route has been the place of turmoil.

The relative quiet of Thursday continued a trend since Monday night, the last time police officers in riot gear fired tear gas into unruly mobs.

Gov. Jay Nixon said he would withdraw the small Missouri

BY KEN LEISER kleiser@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8215

History repeats itself, race riot scholar says • A14 Help pours in for cut-off neighborhoods • A12 Letters and opinions • Full coverage Live updates •

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• A12-17

STLtoday.com

See FERGUSON • Page A12

See END • Page A13

American beats Ebola: ‘I am thrilled to be alive’ ATLANTA • Calling it a “mi-

raculous day,” an American doctor infected with Ebola left his isolation unit and warmly hugged his doctors and nurses on Thursday, showing the world that he poses no public health threat one month after getting sick with the virus.

Dr. Kent Brantly and his fellow medical missionary, Nancy Writebol, who was quietly discharged two

97°/76°

Heat is disrupting prep sports schedules HOT ENOUGH FOR YA? Temperatures this August have been mostly below average, a welcome break from scorching days in previous years.

KEY

days earlier, are still weak but should recover completely, and no one need fear being in contact with them, said Dr. Bruce Ribner, who runs the infectious disease unit at Emory University Hospital.

Brantly’s reappearance was festive and celebratory, a stark contrast to his arrival in an ambulance under police escort three weeks earlier, when he shuffled into the hospital wearing a bulky white

BY KATHLEEN FOODY Associated Press

TODAY

FERGUSON • Protests Thursday began with a few small groups strolling along West Florissant Avenue — just as they have most nights since the fatal shooting nearby of an unarmed teen touched off rioting and a fierce national debate about police use of force.

But how long — and how deeply — the demonstrations will continue to run remained anyone’s guess after 12 days.

Before delivering petitions Thursday that sought removal of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch from the case, African-American organizers warned of ongoing civil disobedience unless demands on their more extensive list are met.

Those include the termination and prosecution of Ferguson

August daily high temperatures 100°

PARTLY CLOUDY

SATURDAY

98°/77° MOSTLY SUNNY

WEATHER A20

A forecast calling for blistering heat through Sunday will be a sharp change from the unseasonably cool summer this year and is prompting school districts to shift game times at the start of the high school football season.

Highs in the mid- to upper 90s, combined with high humidity, will produce heat indexes from 100 to 108 through Sunday, according to the National

95° 90° 85°

Normal high 80° 75°

See EBOLA • Page A9

Troop withdrawal

2012 2013 2014

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BY LEAH THORSEN lthorsen@post-dispatch.com 636-937-6249

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SOURCE: National Weather Service | Post-Dispatch

High school football preview inside

Dome welcomes One Direction

Ex-MU tailback disputes rape story

• C1

Our All-Metro team, schedules, and five games to watch in Week 1.

Holliday says wins matter, not stats

• C1

SPORTS • C8-9

Downtown Belleville on an upswing

• B1

See HEAT • Page A7

• GO!

2 M Vol. 136, No. 234 ©2014

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A12 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 2 • Friday • 08.22.2014

ferguson police shooting Behind the scenes: See a video of a police tactical unit as it deploys tear gas.

STLtoday.com/michaelbrown

Help is pouring in for neighborhoods cut off after rioting

TV trucks roll out of town ferguson National Guard unit that has been guarding the “unified command” headquarters at the Westfall Plaza, formerly Northland. He sent in the unit on Monday.

But a few soldiers and a Humvee remained on duty Thursday night near the gaggle of TV satellite trucks. The big networks remain on the story, but the number of TV trucks was about 25 percent smaller than a few nights before.

About 150 protesters marched along the sidewalks. Police officers stood in small clusters or guarded businesses. The only tense moment was about 10:40 p.m., when a motorist on West Florissant stopped and began exhorting the crowd. Police tried to stop him, but he drove off, heading south. Officers stopped him near Lucas and Hunt Road.

At least five people were arrested on charges of failure to disperse, the standard charge filed from West Florissant. Police said they arrested people who tried to agitate the crowd and wouldn’t stop when warned.

Otherwise, the crowd kept moving.

Shortly after 11 p.m., Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald S. Johnson, County Police Chief Jon Belmar and city Police Chief Sam Dotson mingled with protesters at West Florissant and Ferguson Road. A few shook hands with the chiefs, and one said, “You guys, go get some rest.”

Mel Adou of St. Louis, a native of Ivory Coast, visited the memorial of teddy bears and candles at the shooting scene and chatted with Stan De Saint Hippolyte, Washington correspondent for the TV network France 24. De Saint Hippolyte flew into town Tuesday, but his crew was packing to go.

“We arrived too late,” he said.

Adou said he had needed to see the place. “I shed a few tears when I first got here, picturing Mike Brown laying in the street,” he said.

Before sunset, a small group of people quietly laid a long, neat row of long-stem roses along Canfield Drive, where Brown was shot.

The high temperature Thursday was 96 degrees, the thirdhottest day in an otherwise mild summer, and hung in the upper 80s at midnight. The forecast is for temperatures near 100 today through the weekend.

Johnson, commander of the combined law enforcement effort, said he believed there were two reasons for reduced tension — the announcement that the St. Louis County grand jury began reviewing the case on Wednesday, and the visit on that same

• from A1

By Margaret Gillerman mgillerman@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8126

FERGUSON • The residents

Huy Mach • hmach@post-dispatch.com

Attorney Eric Vickers (left) and state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed deliver a petition Thursday to remove prosecutor Robert McCulloch.

day of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

“I think it shows that the process has begun, and people know the president is watching,” Johnson said.

After chatting with members of the Zainabiya mosque in North County, Johnson said, “At least this has shown that we need to be talking together all the time, all the races.”

Two protesters also welcomed the grand jury. “At least the process has started and I think that allowed people to take a breath,” said Kelly Poole, of St. Louis. His friend, Michelle Seddins, agreed to a point: “It won’t really be solved until (Officer Wilson) is behind bars. This is not something that can be swept under the rug.”

Nixon said he was withdrawing the National Guard because “the situation has greatly improved, with fewer incidents of outside instigators interfering with peaceful protesters, and fewer acts of violence.” Nixon said the Highway Patrol will continue running the peacekeeping duties with help from local police departments.

In Clayton, conflict continued over the role of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch. Many protesters have demanded he step aside or be removed for a special prosecutor, but McCulloch has insisted he will stay on the job. Nixon made it clear that the prosecutor was staying.

“No,” the governor said Thursday, when asked again if he would remove McCulloch.

But 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.

He also released a statement reiterating that he won’t step down. In case anyone still wondered, it was typed in all capital letters. “The family of Michael Brown deserves an answer, the people of Ferguson deserve an answer and the people of the entire area deserve an answer,” his statement said.

ARRESTS DWINDLE County police reported that officers have arrested about 200 people since the turmoil began Aug. 10 with the looting and burning of the QuikTrip, 9420 West Florissant, the night after Brown was killed.

But police made only seven arrests overnight Wednesday, down sharply from roughly 50 on each of the two previous nights.

Most of the charges filed were refusal to disperse. And most of those arrested are from North St. Louis County and St. Louis city, although 21 of those arrested are from far-away places, including San Francisco, Austin, Texas, and Westport, Conn.

The report says those arrested include 58 from St. Louis city and about 70 from the North County area, including nine from Ferguson itself and 23 from Jennings, its neighbor to the east.

Kim Bell, Steve Giegerich, Lilly Fowler, Joe Holleman, Denise Hollinshed, Walker Moskop, Tim O’Neil and Virginia Young, all of the PostDispatch, contributed to this report.

of Canfield Green and their neighbors started lining up at the drop-in help center on West Florissant Avenue at 5 a.m. Thursday.

“By 9 a.m., we had over 250 people there, and we didn’t even open until 10,” said Regina Greer, an organizer of the Community Resource Drop-In Center and the vice president for community response for the United Way of Greater St. Louis.

“Everybody was coming for basic needs,” she said. Food.

Health care. Counseling. Help with utility bills.

“There’s a great demand, and we’re seeing as many people as we can,” she said. By the end of the day, that amounted to hundreds of people.

There has been an outpouring of government, private and individual support, and much of it comes from within Ferguson — neighborhood churches, people in the municipality who care about what some of the poorer neighbors are agonizing through.

Nurses and doctors are going door-to-door in the most directly affected areas. Groups from churches such as Friendly Temple Baptist Church are providing transportation or gathering food — and delivering it.

Volunteers were handing out water and food in the streets near where businesses were looted amid protests over the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a city police officer.

The largest focal point of support is at the Dellwood Recreation Center, where the United Way, St. Louis County government, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and others have set up their base at the drop-in center. They’re providing food, children’s activities and an array of resources and services. Even the Cardinals’ mascot Fredbird showed up at the center Thursday.

Others at the center are Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, Community Action Agency of St. Louis County, Girls Inc., Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, St. Louis Area Foodbank and Society of St. Vincent de Paul — and the list is growing. The Salvation Army and Red Cross are providing hot meals.

After a long day at the center, Andrea Jackson-Jennings, the director of the county’s Human Services Department,

Some ways to donate to help Ferguson • The United Way has established the Ferguson Fund to support a coordinated approach around community building, mental health needs, basic needs and long-term strategies. To donate online, go to stl.unitedway.org/ blog.

• The St. Louis Regional Business Council launched the Reinvest North County Fund to support businesses as they recover from loss of product or damage to their stores. To donate online, go to givver.com/north-county-inc/ ferguson.

said that the county and its various programs were providing a shuttle service from the neighborhoods to the help center as well as referrals for veterans, job training and homeless services, transportation for the elderly for groceries and doctor appointments and direct health care, which is provided by the health department.

Dr. Dolores Gunn, the county health director, has been going door-to-door with Dr. Jade James, her assistant, in Canfield Green and neighboring apartments and houses. More than 1,000 families are in the area where the streets have been shut off, she said. The county has regular clients in the area.

Gunn said many people “are afraid to leave,” and other relatives and caregivers can’t get in because of restricted access.

“We’re checking blood pressure and glucose levels, making sure people have insulin,” she said. “We have sick children there, too.”

People’s Community Health Center also is assisting and going door-to-door, Gunn said.

Private health systems and universities are donating supplies.

The Urban League, based at the center, is accepting donations of diapers, nonperishable foods and other items and packing up food for distribution.

Another large effort underway aims to help businesses and schools in Ferguson.

The St. Louis Regional Business Council and North County Regional Development Association, working with the North County Chamber of Commerce and University of Missouri-St. Louis, have begun the Reinvest North County Fund. The money will be used to support businesses as they recover from losses of products and damages and to support school districts.

notes from ferguson Journalist’s arrest caught on camera A Canadian TV journalist was among several journalists arrested Tuesday night in Ferguson, according to Canadian network CTV news.

Tom Walters, CTV’s Los Angeles bureau chief, was arrested under the order of Capt. Ronald S. Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol. The arrest was captured on video by a CTV news cameraman.

Walters reported that Tuesday night, before the last demonstrator had left, police insisted media leave first. Walters approached Johnson and asked why. “Captain Johnson, what’s the reason for ordering the media out?” he asked as Johnson walked on the street with other officers. “Arrest him, arrest him,” Johnson can be seen saying.

“I just asked a question!” Walters said over and over as other officers took him into custody.

“Now when a town fears brutality by law enforcement, and police suddenly want to do their work unseen by media observers, it’s not just a fair question but a necessary one,” Walters said later in his own television report about the arrest.

— Valerie Schremp Hahn

McCaskill plans hearing on POLICE WASHINGTON • Sen. Claire

McCaskill, D-Mo., said Thursday she will hold a hearing next

Cristina Fletes-Boutte • cfletes-boutte@post-dispatch.com

Zakiya Wright (left), Stevon Staton, David Benitez, Dontey Carter, Ned Alexander IV and Quentin Baker continue to peacefully protest at an approved area on West Florissant Avenue early Thursday.

month “to examine the militarization of local police departments” in the wake of the police response in Ferguson after the shooting death of Michael Brown, 18, by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson.

It will be before an oversight subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs that McCaskill chairs.

McCaskill issued a statement Thursday saying the hearing will “examine federal programs that enable local police departments to acquire military equipment, such as the Defense Department’s 1033 program for surplus property and grants made through the Department of Homeland Security.” Local

law enforcement officials will be among the witnesses, McCaskill’s office said.

McCaskill last week urged that the police response in Ferguson be “demilitarized.” She has declined to comment, including again on Thursday, on whether she agreed with Gov. Jay Nixon’s decision to call in the National Guard, which occurred after McCaskill’s call to demilitarize the police response.

Meanwhile, Reps. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, met at the Pentagon on Thursday with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to talk about what the congressmen called “urgent concerns about the militarization of local law enforcement agencies”

through a Pentagon program to give surplus military equipment to local police.

The so-called 1033 program has come under scrutiny during the police response to demonstrations, looting and violence in the wake of the shooting death of Michael Brown, 18, by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson.

“We have asked the secretary to review the program and to respond with his recommendations quickly,” said a joint statement issued by Clay and Cleaver.

The statement concluded: “If there is any good that can come out of the tragedy in Ferguson, Mo., our hope is that this effort will spur a national discussion about how to achieve a fundamental shift in local law enforcement, away from military-style responses, and towards a more community-based policy.”

— Chuck Raasch, Robert Patrick

Ex-officer crosses the protest line When Ray Lewis makes a lifestyle change, he doesn’t take a timid tack.

The retired Philadelphia police captain — in full uniform — stood with protesters in Ferguson om Thursday.

“I was horrified when I saw all the military gear,” Lewis said of the police response. “People are simply looking for answers.”

Lewis said when he retired 11 years ago after 24 years behind the badge, he moved to up-

state New York and organically farmed.

Saying he became fed up with public corruption, Lewis joined the Occupy Wall Street movement and lived in New York for a year.

“Since then, I’ve taken part in protests for gay rights, promarijuana, (against) the oil and gas industry, (against) genetically modified food,” he said.

As to the drastic change, Lewis said, “Sometimes, the cognitive dissonance amazes even me.”

— Joe Holleman

Stenger hands out aid near protest scene At midday Thursday, members of the St. Louis County NAACP branch and County Councilman Steve Stenger, the Democratic nominee for county executive, handed out “care packages” of goods to residents of apartments near the site of the Michael Brown shooting and nightly protests.

Packages included food, diapers and other items donated by Save-A-Lot. Stenger defeated County Executive Charlie Dooley in the Aug. 5 Democratic primary. He faces Republican state Rep. Rick Stream in the Nov. 4 general election. Stream also has visited West Florissant.

— From staff reports

08.22.2014 • Friday • M 2

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A13

ferguson police shooting Looking back: Take a look at the front pages and major headlines of the story as it unfolded.

STLtoday.com/michaelbrown

change will build trust, some say

J.B. Forbes • jforbes@post-dispatch.com

Eric Sims, 12, shakes hands with National Guard Staff Sgt. John Stone, 29, on Thursday at the police command post in the parking lot of Northland Shopping Center in Jennings. With Eric is his mother, Erica Sims (left), of Los Angeles. Behind Stone is Sgt. 1st Class Robert Cross, 34.

end

WHERE THOSE ARRESTED IN FERGUSON COME FROM

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police Officer Darren Wilson, who fired the shots that killed Michael Brown, 18, as well as the resignations of Ferguson’s mayor and police chief, and an investigation of racial profiling by local police.

One of the organizers, Akbar Muhammad, of the Nation of Islam, said the relative calm on Wednesday night and Thursday morning was more the product of rainstorms that blew through the region than an easing of tension.

Some who have watched the civil unrest play out on a national stage predicted that protests will subside once the demonstrators develop more trust in the government institutions involved.

“I have seen various shifts in different institutions within this community and within communities all over the nation and the world that have begun to engage in conversations they have not engaged in previously,” said Jeffrey Q. McCune Jr., an associate professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at Washington University. “It suggests to me that this is a kind of match that has now been lit under the arses of the American people.”

McCune suggested that the momentum produced by the Ferguson “revolt” would not have happened if people had “sat quietly and waited for the day in court to come.” He agreed that calm will be restored if there is an indictment of Wilson for the fatal shooting of Brown.

During a news conference Thursday in downtown Clayton, Muhammad warned that there would be continuing civil disobedience if the group’s demands are not met.

“It will take justice,” Muhammad told reporters. “And if they don’t want to respond to the demands, then the people will stay in the streets. And what they are trying to do is see if they can wear us out. So we will sit down and plan for shifts, as they plan for shifts. But we aren’t going anywhere until they answer the demands.”

The group announced that it had gathered 70,000 signatures from people in Missouri and elsewhere on petitions seeking McCulloch’s removal.

In an interview with Post-Dispatch reporters and editors this week, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon suggested it may be premature to discuss a negotiated end to the tension.

“Why would I want to negotiate an agreement for people to chill energy around First Amendment rights they feel strongly about?” he said. “If

Some major demands of protest groups • Firing of Officer Darren Wilson • Indictment of Wilson • Replacement of local prosecutor • Probe by U.S. of policies, profiling • Resignation of mayor and police chief

people want to take to the streets in an orderly fashion and not put folks at risk, that’s not a negotiation. They should be able to do that during the day. They should be able to do that during the night. That’s one of the complexities here. Those emotions that are coming forward are part of the catharsis that is going to get us digging deeper into these issues.”

Nixon said tension in Ferguson has shined a light on deeper issues of poverty, education, race, and relationships between law enforcement and the communities police serve.

“These are big, deep issues, and the protesters are forcing all policymakers to think about them,” Nixon said.

American University Professor Cathy Lisa Schneider, author of the book “Police Power and Race Riots: Urban Unrest in Paris and New York,” said the clashes likely will subside once there are deeper conversations about the investigative process in the short run, and changes in police tactics in the long run.

Schneider said pre-existing suspicions fed the polarization that is being felt in Ferguson and elsewhere. But some of the actions by local authorities since the shooting — including the military-like response to protests and the release of a video of Brown stealing cigars from a store shortly before he was killed — have stoked tension and kept Ferguson alive as a national story, she said.

“I think that the police department and the local officials did everything wrong in the Ferguson case,” she said. “Once it exploded, it became representative of issues of concern to minorities in many parts of the country.”

Schneider said reforms likely will be needed within police departments. Ultimately, she said, “the police have to establish a different relationship with the community.”

St. Louis civil rights activist Percy Green said it is premature to talk about resolving the Ferguson issue any time soon.

“This will eventually reach a resolution where temperatures will subside to some degree,”

From St. Louis County

Since Aug. 10, the day after the Michael Brown shooting, through early Thursday, around 200 people involved in Ferguson protests have been arrested and booked at the St. Louis County Jail on 2 23 1 charges including failure to disperse, burglary, assault, 1 1 6 9 unlawful use of a weapon 1 and drug possession.

23 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 3

58

1 1 NOTE: Two people were arrested twice; one from Creve Coeur and one from unincorporated St. Louis County.

21 *Unincorporated St. Louis County

Photographer from 1 Getty Services arrested

From the bistate area 6

1 1

2 1 1

2

1 1 1 1

Bellefontaine Neighbors . . 1 Bel-Ridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Berkeley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Black Jack . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Bridgeton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Charlack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Crestwood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Creve Coeur . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Fenton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Ferguson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Flordell Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Florissant . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Hazelwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Hillsdale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Jennings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Northwoods . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Overland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Pine Lawn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Riverview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 St. Ann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 St. Louis County* . . . . . . . 21 St. Louis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 University City . . . . . . . . . . 1 Woodson Terrace . . . . . . . . 1 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

1

Belleville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Centervillle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Champaign, Ill. . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chicago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Columbia, Mo.. . . . . . . . . . 2 Fairmont City . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Kansas City . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Mt. Vernon, Ill. . . . . . . . . . . 1 O’Fallon, Mo.. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Rockton, Ill.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 St. Jacob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Troy, Mo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Wentzville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

From across the U.S.

1 1 1 4

1

1

1 1 1

1 1

1 1

1 Same person

3 arrested

1

three times

Arlington, Va. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Austin, Texas. . . . . . . . . . . 3 Bronx, N.Y.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Brooklyn, N.Y. . . . . . . . . . . 4 Cincinnati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Des Moines, Iowa . . . . . . . . 1 Huntsvillle, Ala. . . . . . . . . . 1 New York, N.Y. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Pasadena, Calif. . . . . . . . . . 1 Potomac, Md. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 San Diego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 San Francisco . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Valdosta, Ga.. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Valencia, Calif. . . . . . . . . . . 1 Washington, D.C. . . . . . . . . 1 Westport, Conn. . . . . . . . . . 1 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Total arrests. . . . . 204 Green said. “But it is going to linger in the memory” of the African-American community.

Green said it may take involvement of the federal government to broker a compromise and restore confidence, because Washington is looked upon as “more of a friend to people who are oppressed than the state.”

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation in the wake of the

shooting, and Attorney General Eric Holder visited Ferguson on Wednesday.

Green said a “raw nerve” was exposed by Brown’s death on Aug. 9 because many blacks — even those with no police records — know what it means to be harassed by police.

Ferguson can help the healing process by taking certain steps, Green said, including hiring officers from the city, and requiring

current officers to move to Ferguson within six months. Officers, he added, should be subject to psychological testing. Green also advocates use of civilian review boards as a check on police power.

The unrest in Ferguson was “long overdue,” he said. “It was certainly inevitable.”

Matthew Franck of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

A14 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 1 • Friday • 08.22.2014

ferguson police shooting Special report: Why Ferguson: An investigative look at conditions leading up to the showdown.

STLtoday.com/michaelbrown

History repeats itself, says race riot scholar

ferguson in the classroom

How should teachers respond?

By Elisa Crouch and Jessica Bock Post-Dispatch

Robert Cohen • rcohen@post-dispatch.com

By Nancy Cambria nancy.cambria@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8238

McKendree University political scientist Ann Collins began researching American race riots in 2000 while she was a graduate student at Washington University.

At the time, she lived in Bel-Nor, about three miles south of the of looting and protesting in Ferguson that erupted after Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson.

Collins is the author of “All Hell Broke Loose,” which examines dozens of race riots from the early part of the century, chiefly led by whites. During World War I, for example, whites rioted when black soldiers began to more forcefully assert their rights as citizens in the military. Some 25 riots broke out in 1919 alone in what was called the Red Summer.

Collins is currently writing a book on 1964 race rioting titled “The Dawn Broke Hot and Somber.” It was a year when blacks responded violently to white oppression and allegations of white police misconduct.

Collins said Brown’s shooting is strikingly similar to an incident that sparked the 1964 Harlem riots, a year prior to the Watts riots in Los Angeles.

On July 16, 1964, New York police Lt. Thomas Gilligan shot and killed James Powell, 15. The police officer alleged the boy lunged at him with a knife.

Others say the boy was merely playing with friends. Prosecutors declined to charge the police officer, sparking six days of riots.

Collins has found rioting typically erupts in a community dealing with haves and have-nots — some form of economic turmoil or angst. There’s typically rapid demographic change, and political and police structures that have failed to keep up with that change.

“These factors can be found everywhere in America,” Collins says.

“And then there’s always the spark,” she said. “During my research it was

usually some alleged or real attack or murder or some infraction.”

In an interview, Collins discussed how that history pertains to events here.

How are things playing out in Ferguson?

“There’s large unemployment among African-American youths in and around Ferguson,” Collins said.

Also, Ferguson has had rapid demographic change. Census statistics show that in 1990, a quarter of the population was black. Ten years later, more than half of its residents were black. By 2010, African-Americans accounted for 67 percent.

As has been pointed out repeatedly by protesters, Ferguson’s power structure has not changed to reflect that rapid change, Collins said.

“You see a police force that does not reflect the community,” she said. “The Ferguson-Florissant School Board is nearly all white.”

This winter, the district’s board forced out the district’s black superintendent, Art McCoy. In response, the community elected one AfricanAmerican member to the board this spring.

Ferguson’s City Council has one black elected official. Dwayne T. James is an engineer.

And then the spark: “In Ferguson, the spark was the shooting of Michael Brown,” Collins said. “What’s interesting is the flames are still being stoked in Ferguson, and a lot of that has to do with the response of the police, local and county.” First of all, she said, people found leaving Brown’s body in the street appalling.

The release of video stills to media at the same moment protesters were given the name of the police officer again sparked outrage. Collins noted social media such as Twitter and Facebook, and pervasive use of cellphones to shoot pictures and video, have likely extended the rioting and looting and brought in more outsiders. Typically riots last about three days before petering out, she said.

And Collins said there were almost daily angry flash points regarding an imposed curfew. Collins said within hours of protesting there were murmurs of a 9 p.m. curfew among town leaders. That was never enacted. Then Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced a midnight curfew. It was later rescinded.

Why would a curfew arouse such anger?

Collins said curfews imposed by white power structures — particularly at 9 p.m. or twilight — echo the legacy of “sundown towns” that pervaded the Midwest through the 1960s. Small towns had alarms and signs signaling African-Americans to get out of sight.

How do we solve the problem?

In the short term: “What we really need to happen is a much more honest and open communication between the police and the citizens of Ferguson.

They feel like and it appears to be that they are not getting straightforward answers,” Collins said.

In the long term: “There needs to be more emphasis on education (and) civic engagement. ” That starts with voting. Collins said that in the April 2013 Ferguson municipal election just 6 percent of eligible black voters went to the polls; 17 percent of whites voted. Compare that to the November 2012 presidential election, when black and white voter turnout in Ferguson was nearly the same.

“Changing the municipal elections to coincide with presidential elections would bring more people out to vote,” she said.

Is history repeating itself?

Quotes and descriptions in newspaper accounts of riots in 1964 are strikingly similar to the things being said in Ferguson today, Collins said.

“Just looking back into newspapers and seeing the quotes — they’re saying the same things,” she said. “The people are mad, mad, mad. They’re angry that there are two societies in the United States and two standards.”

1984 case shaped rules on use of force

By EILEEN SULLIVAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON • It started with a bot-

tle of orange juice 30 years ago.

The national legal standards that govern when police officers are justified in using force against people trace their lineage to a 1984 case from Charlotte, N.C. In that case, a diabetic man’s erratic behavior during a trip to a convenience store for juice to bring up his low blood sugar led to a confrontation with officers that left him with injuries from head to foot.

Dethorne Graham’s subsequent lawsuit against police for his injuries led to a 1989 Supreme Court decision that has become the prism for evaluating how police use force. As soon as Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown on Aug. 9, the Graham v. Connor case became the foundational test for whether Wilson’s response was appropriate or criminal.

To most civilians, an 18-year-old unarmed man may not appear to pose a deadly threat. But a police officer’s perspective is different. And that is how an officer should be judged after the fact, Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote in the 1989 opinion.

“The ‘reasonableness’ of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight,” Rehnquist wrote.

A grand jury is hearing evidence to

determine whether Wilson, 28, who has policed the St. Louis suburbs for six years, should be charged in Brown’s death.

The key question will be: Would a reasonable police officer, with a background such as Wilson’s, have responded the same way?

The answer is typically yes.

“Except in the most outrageous cases of police misconduct, juries tend to side with police officers and give them a lot of leeway,” said Woody Connette, the attorney who represented Graham.

In Graham’s case, his behavior as he was experiencing low blood sugar looked similar to that of a belligerent drunk.

On Nov. 12, 1984, Graham, 39, felt the onset of an insulin reaction and asked a friend to drive him to buy juice, Connette said.

According to the Supreme Court, Graham rushed into the store and grabbed the orange juice but saw the line was too long, so he put the juice down and ran back to the car.

Charlotte police Officer M.S. Connor followed him. When Connor stopped Graham’s friend’s car, Graham explained he was having a sugar reaction.

But Connor didn’t believe him.

As Connor was following up with the store, Graham left the car, ran around it twice, then sat down and passed out for a short time. Other police officers arrived, and Graham was rolled over and handcuffed. The officers lifted Graham

from behind and placed him facedown on the car.

When Graham asked the officers to check his pocket for something he carried that identified him as a diabetic, one of the officers told him to “shut up” and shoved his face against the hood of the car. Then four officers grabbed Graham and threw him headfirst into the police car. Once police confirmed no crime had been committed inside the store, they dropped Graham off at his home and left him lying in the yard, Connette said.

Graham ended up with a broken foot, cuts on his wrists, a bruised forehead and an injured shoulder.

Graham, who died in 2000, lost in his first jury trial, and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, which set out the standards still used today. He then had a new trial, which he also lost.

The Graham decision found that an officer’s use of force should be considered on the facts of each case. Officers are to weigh the seriousness of the crime, whether the suspect poses a threat to the safety of police or others and whether the suspect is trying to resist arrest.

Since then, police officers across the U.S. have been trained to use force in that context. States and police departments have their own policies, but the standards set in the Graham case are always the minimum. Some departments, such as the Los Angeles Police Department, even reference Graham v.

Connor in their manuals.

Thousands of teachers, school counselors and staff huddled at various sites on Thursday to talk about trauma they could see in their students as the result of the violence in Ferguson.

The volatility of a crisis so close to home has prompted them to figure out the best ways to talk with children about the protests and chaos that began on Aug. 9, when a police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, 18.

Missouri Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro held a workshop Thursday at HarrisStowe State University with the state Department of Mental Health and other agencies. More than 200 staff members attended from Hazelwood, Jennings, Normandy, Riverview Gardens, St. Louis Public Schools and University City. Also Thursday, Ferguson-Florissant held crisis training for more than 2,000 employees.

“Most of the time you hear about a crisis this big happening on the other side of the country or the other side of the globe,” said LaBrenda McClinton, a social worker in Riverview Gardens.

“We’re in the middle of it.”

Some school districts are offering talking points. Others are encouraging open classroom discussions. And a few have asked teachers to avoid the topic entirely.

In one of those districts — the predominantly white Edwardsville School District — principals at the high school and middle schools have told teachers to change the subject and refocus whenever Ferguson comes up — at least until staff has developed a framework for discussing it.

But so has Riverview Gardens, a predominantly African-American school district that includes the Canfield Green apartments, where Brown was shot. Administrators there have told teachers to refer children wanting to talk about the situation to social workers and counselors, rather than discuss it in the classroom.

“The concern is that not everybody will be at the same level,” Melanie Powell Robinson, spokeswoman for Riverview Gardens, said of teachers. “We know that everyone has an individual opinion. We want to make sure we’re addressing the needs of our students without helping to further an independent thought from an educator.”

The range of approaches illustrates the uncharted territory teachers and administrators find themselves in. For nearly two weeks, many of their students have watched events unfold that involve both peaceful protest and violent rioting. And at the same time, they’ve been returning to school.

Teachers are challenged with leading difficult conversations while also looking out for trauma.

Most children will be fine with family and community support, but some will need mental health services, and teachers need to be on alert, said Vetta Sanders Thompson, a psychologist. “Other than parents, teachers are the best sources of information of how children are coping,” she said.

“What they will need, what they will feel, the reactions they will have — are highly variable.”

In Maplewood-Richmond Heights, Superintendent Karen Hall said that kind of communication will take place throughout the year in her district. And so will classroom discourse.

The same goes for Rockwood schools, where children are talking about the unrest, Superintendent Eric Knost said. That said, “We’re on a heightened awareness, making sure all of educators are being cognizant of what’s going on and that we’re going to encounter kids on all sides of the issue,” he added.

In the University City schools, about 75 teachers and staff attended a meeting Monday about how to handle the many ways Ferguson issues come up in class.

Superintendent Joylynn Pruitt sent out a memo recapping the meeting. If students ask about police, it says, teachers are to remind them of the officers who work in their schools. “We want to help our students realize that they know police officers and they cannot stereotype all police officers, just as we wouldn’t want them to stereotype all students.”

And what should be done if a student wears a “Hands Up! Don’t Shoot!” T-shirt to school?

“We will follow normal dress code procedures,” Pruitt’s memo says. “If the clothing becomes disruptive to the school and the learning environment, then the administration has the right to have the student change clothes. Otherwise, clothing is a legitimate form of free speech.”

The Parkway School District has given its staff a three-page guide on how to talk about Ferguson, instructing teachers to remain neutral.

“Express your feelings for ‘everyone’ who has been affected by this situation in Ferguson,” the primer says. “Ensure that students feel they can openly communicate their feelings without fear of a consequence.”

The guide also advises teachers to watch for a sudden increase in the number of students expressing anger during the discussion. It could indicate “bottled-up feelings of anxiety that they have not been able to express.”

Teachers outside Missouri also are searching for ways to tackle the issue of Ferguson. They are sharing ideas for age-appropriate resources on Twitter with the hashtag #FergusonSyllabus.

Many want direction from school leaders, said Alexander Cuenca, a social studies education professor at St. Louis University. If a topic is too controversial, the tendency is to stay away from it, Cuenca said.

“I think the protests are asking us to not be silent anymore,” he said. “Teachers want to have the conversations. Students want to have the conversations. Having kids engage in these discussions is crucial for all of us.”

A L E E E N T E R P R I S E S N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D BY J O S E P H P U L I T Z E R D E C . 1 2 , 1 8 7 8

FRIDAY • 08.22.2014 • A16

YOUR VIEWS • LETTERS FROM OUR READERS Gov. Nixon convicts officer before the facts are known I’m so disappointed in Gov. Jay Nixon’s public conviction of Officer Darren Wilson before the facts are even known. How could he call for a “vigorous prosecution” of the officer before we know the facts? What’s up with his “broad daylight” wording? I wonder if the governor agrees with the Rev. Al Sharpton that the looters in Ferguson are really liberators.

I don’t know what future political aspirations Mr. Nixon has, but I hope I have the opportunity to vote against him.

The governor should publicly apologize to Officer Wilson. The first thing most of us learn in grade school relating to the government is that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. This rule applies to police officers as well as events that occur in “broad daylight.” How did Nixon become governor of Missouri and not learn this most basic rule of law?

The governor will soon learn that his statements will be remembered as his moment of stupidity and will not be forgotten by the majority of citizens and voters of Missouri.

Mike Asaro • Fenton

The Killing of Michael Brown

An opportunity to acknowledge the struggles of ‘the ones left behind’

McCulloch’s campaigning is reason for recusal Another consideration for recusing county prosecutor Robert McCulloch is his active participation in Steve Stenger’s campaign for county executive. Do we think he would be fair to the family of Michael Brown and go against the majority of white voters in the county?

Niki Nymark • St. Louis County

McCulloch will be fair in any prosecution I am a former judge for many years at the main courthouse in St. Louis County, in Clayton.

St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch is the best and most fair of any prosecutor in memory. Critics of McCulloch are implying that he would use fake evidence in any prosecution arising out of Ferguson.

Such an opinion is ridiculous. Sensible people in the Ferguson uproar should wait for all the evidence, including whether the shooting was self-defense.

Finally, Al Sharpton and other racists are here because they get big media publicity.

Harvey J. Schramm • Brentwood

the nature and extent of racial inequities and the steps that will most likely resolve them.

Wouldn’t it be great if something positive for the people of Missouri and our nation can come from this whole mess?

Lou Horwitz • St. Peters

Many schools in city are dedicated to educating African-Americans Charletta Taylor indicated in her commentary (“The unspoken truth about St. Louis,” Aug. 19) that we truly do not care about educating African-American children. I would like to take issue with that. If she would come into the city and see all of the schools (public, private, charter) that now exist with the primary goal of educating African-American children for their future, I think she would be surprised.

While I strongly believe we have a way to go, I also believe that there are many people in our city who truly care about the education of African-American children and are

hearts and prayers all those involved in the tragedy in Ferguson: the family and friends of Michael Brown, Officer Darren Wilson and his family, and all those involved in the investigation and in keeping the peace in Ferguson.

Through our ministry to all, which has included providing medical care, staffing food pantries, tutoring disadvantaged children, actively working against human trafficking, caring for prisoners and their families, providing social services, we have been a presence to the African-American community.

Our sisters who are no longer involved in active ministry continue to keep all in prayer.

And we remain committed to fairness to all. We recognize many of the issues that have led to this standoff. The situation in Ferguson and the systemic problems that have contributed to it concern us deeply.

We pray for peace, for an end to the violence that dishonors the serious issues that are at stake. And we pray for wisdom to open ourselves to the truth and to find a new path forward.

We call forth each person to put forth his or her best self, to see this as an opportunity to be more than we are. May each of us be, in the words of St. Francis of Assisi, “an instrument of God’s peace,” providing presence, patience, real listening and compassion.

Sister Rose Mary Dowling • Bridgeton President, Franciscan Sisters of Mary

Police show disregard for the value of black people

Appointment of special prosecutor is essential The tragic death of Michael Brown and the responses to it by various parties have brought a long-simmering distrust in Missouri’s criminal justice system to a boil. Two concrete actions can go a long way toward easing tension and moving us closer to the ultimate goal of “equal justice under law.”

First, Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch, whose father, a police officer, was tragically killed in the line of duty by a black man, must have no involvement with charging decisions and/or sentencing decisions related to the police officer who killed Michael Brown. With all due respect, if either side could so very easily have Mr. McCulloch disqualified as a juror under his circumstances, it cannot possibly be just or fair for him to make charging or sentencing decisions in this case. Regardless of who initiates the action, the appointment of a politically neutral, highly respected special prosecutor is essential here and now.

Second, self-serving rhetoric to the contrary notwithstanding, there is obviously a widespread perception of substantial racial inequities in Missouri’s criminal justice system. The mere fact that African-Americans are incarcerated at approximately six times the rate of whites is enough to justify the appointment of a politically neutral, highly respected blue-ribbon commission to identify

hard at work to achieve that goal. Programs, curricula and newly trained teachers are giving their all to be successful.

In addition, those students transferring to the suburbs have made significant gains and are an asset to their transfer school. It is not all about money.

Rather than making such statements, I would like to see Ms. Taylor visit many of our existing schools in the city. I think she would hopefully sing a different tune.

Susan Uchitelle • Clayton

Move forward by finding common ground Each of us has a reaction to what happened to Michael Brown in Ferguson. Those reactions are based on our own circumstances and life experiences, and each perception is real and valid to us as individuals.

The only way to move forward is to find common ground that, no what our demographic, we can agree upon. I think we would all be surprised how much we do have in common if we chose to look for agreement rather than looking for discord.

I believe that we can all agree that we want justice, and justice for both Michael Brown and Officer Darren Wilson.

Pat McGuire • Ladue

Praying for peace and wisdom The Franciscan Sisters of Mary hold in our

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make sure their rights were protected. The head of the Ku Klux Klan left his TV show to show his support for the white community.

Uh, wait a minute. ... What? ... Kirkwood prayed and started a dialogue with their fellow black citizens? There was no violence?

All of Kirkwood reacted with kindness and understanding?

Never mind.

Patrick Guilfoy • Kirkwood

On Tuesday afternoon, a knife-wielding African-American man was shot and killed in north city by St. Louis police. Tell us, two police officers could not disarm and render help to this drunk, depressed, demented or delirious “weaving and slow-walking” black man without killing him?

More local disregard for the value of black people by those in authority, it seems to me.

What was the race of the officers in this north city/Baden unnecessary shooting?

The race of the officer made a big difference in the Mike Brown tragedy in Ferguson. Was this also a white-on-black repeat, which will then become a race protest event, or is this another black-on-black shooting, which will disappear from the public and media interest shortly?

Dryver Henderson • Bel-Nor

Two cities handled shootings differently Remember the killing of two white cops and four other white city officials by a black man in Kirkwood in 2008? The white populous was so enraged and incensed that they took to the streets and looted and set on fire downtown Kirkwood.

President Bush stated that whites were justified in their anger over this incident and was sending his attorney general to

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American power and privilege are vested in a single group As a white woman who remembers the 1960s civil rights movement, I am appalled, though sadly not surprised, by the institutional response to Michael Brown’s death.

From Gov. Jay Nixon on down, official actions have been arrogant, unfeeling and tone-deaf.

We’ve seen the victim vilified, his killer sheltered; peaceful protesters treated like herd animals; journalists isolated from unfolding events; and Americans denied significant information. Yet, according to polling, most white respondents are indifferent to these multiple injustices.

I doubt those people would be as complacent if their own children were slaughtered on the streets and tanks rolled through their neighborhoods. But they can’t truly envision that possibility, which is the clearest indication that American power, privilege and access to basic freedoms are vested in a single group. We’ll only have lasting peace when white people acknowledge and redress the legitimate grievances of black citizens.

Why should it be otherwise?

Kathryn Zellich • St. Louis

White Michael Brown didn’t get the same attention Many readers forget that Michael Brown was shot dead in October 2005. No, not the Ferguson Michael Brown.

This Michael Brown was one of two Lincoln County white males shot at the hands of a law officer who claimed that their vehicle was rolling at his vehicle while stopped in a private driveway for a traffic stop. There were four other occupants in the vehicle.

Perhaps this would’ve had more national attention if this Michael Brown had minority status?

Dr. Brad Jines • Troy, Mo.

Standing up in outrage I am disappointed in people who do not turn out for Ferguson demonstrations. Some even go so far as to dis the demonstrators.

For these folks, I have one question: If your child had been executed by a law enforcement officer without due process, particularly in the context of nationwide police shootings of unarmed individuals, would you not want your community to stand up for you in outrage?

Sue Gibson • Jefferson City

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MAIL Letters to the editor St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 900 N. Tucker Blvd.

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I just finished reading “The ones left behind” (Aug. 19) by Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post. Robinson highlights the reality of the condition in which many blacks in the United States continue to live.

It is these conditions and the frustration associated with them that creates an environment in which violence can explode.

Never having experienced these conditions makes it easy to condemn those who openly express their rage over the death of Michael Brown. We may see this as an isolated incident that has to be dealt with by the use of force. Rather than acknowledging and addressing the ongoing struggles, we may choose to focus on the “progress” that’s been made in dealing with the “racial divide.” In so doing, we may set the scene for future violence.

This sad event presents an opportunity.

Perhaps the best way to honor the life of Michael Brown is to open our eyes and ears and work together to deal with conditions faced by the “ones left behind.”

Jim Allen • St. Louis

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Joan Brannigan of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, says, “As the U.S. tries to solve political problems with weapons and war, the same mentality seeps into our society, permeating it with the idea of using weapons and overkill to solve social problems. The victims are numerous; this happens every day in our country, particularly to young black men and boys.”

Read and talk about this letter and more letters online at STLtoday.com/letters

The Killing of Michael Brown E.J. Dionne • ejdionne@washpost.com

Ferguson divides us less than we imagine Aftermath of shooting • A broad national dialogue leading to change is possible.

African-Americans are not alone in being horrified by the killing of Michael Brown. They are not alone in their concern over the police’s behavior. And there’s evidence that a large number of white Americans have still not fully formed their views on this tragedy.

This means that how we discuss and debate the events in Ferguson, Mo., in the coming weeks really matters.

What you have probably heard up to now is how racially polarized the country is in its reaction to the shooting of Brown by a police officer — at least six times, including twice to the head. But polarization is the wrong concept here. The fact is that white Americans are clearly divided in their reactions, a sign that a broad national dialogue leading to change is possible — if, for once, we step outside the usual boundaries of our discord.

African-Americans are not divided. In a Pew Research Center survey conducted from Aug. 14 to Aug. 17, 80 percent of blacks

said the case “raises important issues about race that need to be discussed.” In addition, 65 percent said that the police response had gone too far.

Among whites, 37 percent said the case raises important issues about race, while 47 percent said “the issue of race is getting more attention in this case than it deserves.” To put this in context, Pew asked a similar question in July 2013 after the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida and found that only 28 percent of whites said the case raised important racial issues while 60 percent said race was getting too much attention.

This is a potentially significant shift. It’s possible that the direct involvement of the police in Brown’s death has an impact here, or that the discussion of the Martin shooting altered white opinion.

Whatever the cause, we need to keep our eyes open to what’s happening.

Also noteworthy is that many whites have yet to form a view of

the police response in Ferguson: 32 percent said the response has been “about right,” 33 percent said it has “gone too far” — and an astonishing 35 percent declined to express an opinion. Many white Americans are still watching, and listening.

As for confidence in the investigations of the killing, AfricanAmericans are far more suspicious than whites, but white views are complicated. Carroll Doherty, Pew’s director of political research, provided a detailed breakdown of opinion. Among whites, only 14 percent had a “great deal” of confidence in the investigations, 38 percent had a “fair amount,” 22 percent had “not too much,” and 10 percent had “none at all.”

Among African-Americans, fully 45 percent had no confidence, while 31 percent had not too much, 12 percent had a fair amount of confidence, and 5 percent had a great deal.

Seen one way, there is an undeniable racial divide: Whites were

three times more likely than African-Americans to have significant confidence in the inquiries. On the other hand, 43 percent of AfricanAmericans and 60 percent of whites positioned themselves at one of the two midpoints on the scale.

The most striking racial difference is on interest in the story itself: Pew found that while 54 percent of non-Hispanic AfricanAmericans were closely following the news about the shooting and the protests, only 25 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 18 percent of Hispanics said they were.

It should not surprise us that blacks and whites see appalling episodes of this sort somewhat differently, given our nation’s history with racism. But we also ought to notice that empathy does exist across racial lines, and this should give us hope.

Countries tell themselves stories, and then they start believing them. If we keep misleading ourselves into thinking we are

wholly divided by incidents of this sort, we won’t even try to talk to each other, let alone look for ways to improve the situations of young African-Americans or relations between our police and our minority communities.

We talk too much about “teachable moments” and have too few of them. That’s because the concept itself can have a condescending feel, implying that some people need to be teachers and others need to be pupils. In a democracy, we are all teachers and we are all students — and we’re obligated to search for common goals. We should join together in seeking a thorough investigation of Michael Brown’s death and remember that Martin Luther King Jr. instructed us all that we should “refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.”

Copyright the Washington Post

Michael D. Thomas

Building community in Ferguson Repairing the city • ‘Self-ownership’ — individual autonomy and freedom — is a critical component. cristina fletes-boutte • cfletes-boutte@post-dispatch.com

Members of the Israel United in Christ church marched down Canfield Drive on Saturday.

Fear of a black man:

A fact not in evidence Solomon Alexander

Race relations • The narrative of the inhuman, frightening slave is still very much alive in America.

We fear what we do not understand, hate what we fear and destroy what we hate. Such is the plight of the black man in America. Such was the plight of Michael Brown. America is afraid of black men.

No one will admit to being afraid of black men. There is still a degree of pride in the larger society. Abject fear is an emotional and irrational condition. Those people wanting their own definition of “justice” for Michael Brown are being emotional and irrational.

They should wait for all the facts to come out.

It’s hard for the facts to come out when the other guy always seems to end up dead. Was anyone able to get sworn testimony from Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant or Michael Brown?

What is their version of the events that led to their deaths? What questions were they asked when they each took the stand?

Oh, I forgot. They didn’t make it that far. They died. To be truly objective, we must realize there is a version of events that will never come out. There’s a voice that will never be heard.

No matter what evidence comes to light in the Michael Brown case, one question will undoubtedly be addressed: Was Officer Darren Wilson afraid for his life? Those who support him will believe he was. I mean, who wouldn’t be afraid of a 6-4, 260-pound-plus black man running at them fullspeed? Imagine what he would do if he got his hands on the officer.

These thoughts transform black men into the monsters found in horror films. In the presence of fearful whites, we suddenly develop superhuman strength, world-class speed and near invincibility. We can walk through a hail of bullets. The only way to stop us is to put us down permanently.

Some will believe Michael Brown kept coming forward after

being shot in his right eye, with the bullet exiting his jaw and re-enter through his collarbone.

No, dummy. He was dying. A kid three months past his high school graduation, a kid who was only 5 years old on 9/11, was dying.

Black men don’t feel fear, right?

None of us are afraid of the fear whites feel ... or at least that’s the prevailing wisdom. I can tell you we are, though. Our parents, grandparents, mentors, teachers and coaches have all warned us about the danger in being a black man.

Never walk anywhere in a big group. And by big group, I mean more than two. Watch your tone of voice. Don’t get loud, excited or have too much “bass” in your voice. If you’re pulled over or stopped for any reason by a police officer, make sure he can always see your hands. Make him feel comfortable.

I follow many of these rules to this day. My friends and I often meet to watch football at the same neighborhood sports bar.

We could easily carpool. We don’t because there are usually four or five of us and we’re all black men.

An officer pulled me over recently for my taillight being out.

I immediately put my hands out the window so he could see them.

I asked him if I could reach into my back pocket for my license and into my glove box for my insurance card. He said I had nothing to worry about, but I was worried. I had a busted taillight and no warrants, yet I was surrounded by four police cruisers.

I’m a big, black man. That’s all an officer can see. He can’t see my master’s degree or the fact that my undergrad is from a private, Catholic university. He doesn’t know I’ve been married almost 14 years and my only child is by my wife.

The reason so many black people, especially black men, are

outraged by the Michael Brown shooting is because we all know that at any time, it could be one of us. The narrative of the inhuman, frightening slave is still very much alive in America. We have to constantly prove ourselves. We have to constantly prove we are different from the perception of our brothers.

We concede, however, that there are far too many of us who commit crime. We concede a good number of our brothers really did do it. We also ask why Michael Brown, Eric Garner and Oscar Grant just couldn’t be arrested.

Why couldn’t they have their day in court?

Police were somehow able to arrest Jared Lee Loughner after he opened fire on a sitting U.S. congresswoman and killed six people, including an 8-year-old. James Holmes was still wearing tactical gear behind an Aurora, Colo., movie theater after shooting 70 people, killing 12 of them. He was somehow taken into custody and is standing trial. Some of the most dangerous people in the history of our nation had their day in court.

Gacy, Manson, McVeigh, Dahmer, Gein and Bundy combined to kill literally hundreds of people and commit the most gruesome crimes any of us have ever heard of. All of them were successfully taken into custody. Not Michael Brown, though. He was too dangerous.

Some will wonder why I am writing this. Some will call me an agitator. I hope so. We need to have this conversation. It is documented that humans are born with only two fears — that of falling and loud noises. Everything else is learned. We must unlearn.

The lives of too many people depend on it.

Solomon Alexander is a community activist, writer and blogger who lives in St. Louis. His blog covers a variety of issues and can be found at therealbigsol.com.

community in order to overcome The people of Ferguson and the the current us vs. them mentality. police department are a society Officers have to first understand divided by a single word: propwhat it means to live in Ferguson erty. before they can police Ferguson.

When the police went into This kind of cooperation gives full riot gear and started to lock people a stake in their comdown sections of Ferguson, their munities. So how do we grow motives were simple: law and cooperation from small groups order must be preserved, and of people into large groups of property, like the QuikTrip gas autonomous people acting station, must be protected from together in a city the size of a Ferlooters. guson? The answer is that it must But the real problem driving the destruction, looting and other grow organically from within, not imposed from the outside forms of violence in Ferguson through force. is not property ownership, but The extent to which the police “self-ownership” — individual have interacted with citizens in autonomy and freedom. Not only Ferguson has outright underis self-ownership a fundamental mined the community. No one human right, it is the critical can interact positively with the component for building strong police when all they know is communities. harassment and traffic citations.

Ferguson is clearly broken: This cannot fully explain comAn average of three warrants are issued per Ferguson household by munity apathy, but it certainly explains the lack of cooperation the police department each year. and the public outrage at recent This is evidence of an adversarial events. relationship between the police Community members must and residents. Ferguson is like the rest of Missouri, where 24 percent organize as advocates for their communities. Protests, when of African-Americans have been peaceful, are a start, and we’ve convicted of a felony, which disseen examples of this in Ferguson: qualifies them from voting. Even those that are allowed to vote turn Community members, by their own free will, have come together out at only 12 percent for municito voice their concerns and pal elections.

Furthermore, nearly 95 percent demand change. Ferguson should build on this unity. of police officers are white and What interfrom other feres with surrounding these exprescommunisions of selfties — few ownership is are from the militarizaFerguson, a tion of police town that is departments. only 29 perIf the police cent white. resemble an Twenty-five occupying percent of the city’s Cristina Fletes-Boutte • Post-Dispatch force, they will alienate revenue Diane Whitehorn holds up a sign the comcomes from asking for unity and prayer on West munity. This traffic Florissant Avenue in Ferguson on has to change citations, Monday. if neighborprompting a local public defender to argue that hoods in Ferguson are going to most people see the city as target- become cooperative and productive places to live. ing its citizens to raise revenue, The first step is to put away the not to “serve and protect” them. firearms and riot gear. CooperaThis recipe includes none tion is not achieved by the misof the ingredients for strong trust that comes with threats of community institutions or the violence. Community members individual cooperation necesshould work to become better sary to build them. The people of represented in leadership roles in Ferguson have been stripped of the city, including in the police self-ownership under the strong department. When communities hand of harsh law enforcement make sense, peace, prosperity and and heavy fines by, what they perceive as, an occupying force. It progress follows. is no wonder that Ferguson ended up in this state, given the path it has taken.

Michael D. Thomas is an assistant professor What Ferguson needs are insti- of economics in Heider College at Creighton tutions that support cooperation, University and received a master’s degree in economics from the University of Missouriincluding a police force made up St. Louis in 2005. of more people who live in the

08.22.2014 • Friday • M 1

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • B5

Business

North St. Louis County has Settlement promise despite challenges ILLINOIS

• from B1

Process for homeowners could drag on for years

Five Questions • Rebecca Zoll, CEO of regional economic development group, points to progress made in recent years.

By Jim Gallagher jgallagher@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8390

Rebecca Zoll’s job is to bring people together for the good of north St. Louis County. But how can that be done when one part of North County is tearing itself apart?

The people of North County will figure it out, she says.

“For many it’s been an eye opener to the underlying situation in regard to poverty and race relations in the community,” says Zoll, who is CEO of North County Inc. “This community doesn’t usually hide its head after something has been brought to its attention. We can’t afford to.”

North County Inc., founded 37 years ago, is an economic development group made up of businesses and governments north of Page Avenue.

It’s part study group, part coordinator, business recruiter and cheerleader for an area of 375,000 people.

With a stretch of West Florissant Avenue in nightly chaos, the group is in moneyraising mode. With the Regional Business Council, Zoll’s group formed the Reinvest North County Fund. As of Friday, it’s raised $33,400 — with $10,000 of it from the Regional Business Council — and commitments for $50,000 to help damaged businesses and school districts near the trouble zone.

(Donations are being accepted through bit.ly/1pOi663).

West Florissant Avenue exploded just as things were looking up in North County, she says. For the first time since 2006, housing prices seem to be rising.

Zillow, the real estate website, says the typical home in Ferguson was worth $63,500 in June, up from $59,500 a year earlier. Other North County communities also show an upward trend, possibly reflecting the decline in cheap foreclosures on the market.

Crime is also down, she notes. Ferguson had 80 violent crimes in 2012, down from 163 in 2008, according to FBI statistics, and other North County towns show also show a downward pattern.

North County added 2,394 jobs last year and in 2014, Zoll boasts. It has a big collection of major employers, including Express Scripts, Mallinckrodt, World Wide Technology, Boeing, the University of Missouri and two major hospitals.

Charter Communications last year opened a call center in Earth City, hiring 400 people, and the university is on a $70 million expansion.

Emerson, the global manufacturer, has its world headquarters down the street from the protests.

Zoll’s take on North County and its big recent problem:

Jim Gallagher • jgallagher@post-dispatch.com

REBECCA ZOLL Title • President and CEO, North County Inc. Age • 47 Education • Degree in mass communication, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Career • KMOV for 10 years as a producer in the promotion and marketing department. In 1988, joined WROC in Rochester, N.Y., as manager of promotion and marketing. Joined North County Inc. in 2000 and became president and CEO in 2009.

How will the Ferguson problem affect economic development in North County?

It will have an immediate impact on economic growth.

However, this is a very strong community. Once we start that path to healing, it will rally. The people love North County and we’ll see growth.

I think Ferguson has made incredible strides in the last decade to bring new restaurants and housing options.

Their downtown area is thriving. It is unique to the area and incredibly charming.

Despite the slow recovery over the past few years, (North

County is) experiencing multiple millions of dollars in investment from business.

Our community has a great deal of healing to do. A portion of our community is dealing with very strong emotions.

We have to be considerate and understand those emotions.

I would not want to downplay the challenge ahead of us but we have good leaders, strong businesses and services.

What would you say to a business owner considering locating in North County?

I’d hope a business would look beyond this one incident, and look at fact that over the past three to five years we’ve seen both violent crime and property crime decline in all our cities we can track through the FBI sites.

We can show trends of major decline in crime. The business community is very savvy at looking beyond one situation in making those decisions.

We have a ready workforce and many workforce development programs that can help you with training. Our local governments are very willing to work with companies.

We offer a great quality of life for the people that work for you. We’re proud that so many large corporations do thrive here.

What can groups like yours do to solve the problems apparent in areas such as Ferguson?

The community has to be more proactive to bring jobs to this area. We have to bring more workforce development and training to the area. The University of Missouri and St. Louis Community College in Florissant Valley try very hard to increase the level of education, and that is key.

What does North County Inc. do?

We bring the stakeholders together to make collaborative partnerships. They are the hospitals, school districts, the municipal governments, banks and the larger corporations, right down to the smaller family-owned businesses, like Hendel’s Market Cafe and Pi-

NICKLAUS

ano Bar in Florissant.

We look at projects that can benefit the business climate and the residential environment.

What are you working on now?

One of the big ones is with the University of MissouriSt. Louis and the city of Normandy. It’s the Great Streets Natural Bridge project to improve transportation infrastructure. We’ll tie that corridor in with the MetroLink station on the university campus.

You’ll see bike paths and pedestrian improvements. Built in are major beautification effort. When it is done, you will not recognize the corridor.

It will run from Hanley up to the wedge where Florissant Road comes into Natural Bridge. The plan recommends going to I-170 and Lucas and Hunt eventually.

(Missouri Department of Transportation) has started that project. It’s going on today.

The partnership formed the Great Streets Redevelopment Corp., to look at the land use in that corridor; ways to improve the business climate and services. That may be a 15- to 20-year project.

We’re also involved in a study along the I-270 north corridor in North County.

There are some very important issues: accessibility and obviously safety. There are huge congestion issues. We want to design it to stimulate business growth through one of the busiest corridors in the St. Louis metro area.

The study is almost complete. The next big hurdle will be how it gets funded. MoDOT doesn’t have the answers now and we certainly don’t.

They’ve made the corridor one of their highest priorities.

In many parts of St. Louis County, they don’t have the land to expand on many highway corridors. There are areas of North County along the I-270 interstate that do have room, from Page Avenue all the way to the Riverview.

Hazelwood does have some really good opportunities for development right next to the airport.

Only a fraction of homeowners would be eligible for refinancing under the settlement. And the process by which people would qualify and receive aid could drag on for years, with payouts set to be completed as late as 2018.

Those who have already lost homes to a foreclosure or a short sale — when a lender accepts less money from a sale than what the borrower owes — wouldn’t likely benefit at all.

“It is certainly better than nothing,” said Bruce Marks, chief executive of the nonprofit Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America. “But for the millions who lost their homes, it reinforces the appearance that the government has not been on their side.”

Monnette Holland had been anxiously waiting the settlement, wondering if it might save her four-bedroom home in Franklin, Va. “It has been a nightmare,” she said. “I was hoping that we could keep our home.”

Holland had refinanced her house in 2006 with Countrywide, a firm that was later bought by Bank of America and that made up the bulk of toxic mortgage securities involved in the settlement.

Holland, 65, a former legal secretary, used the proceeds from the refinancing to pay off auto loans and install a new roof and windows. But then her husband was forced into an early retirement at a paper mill. And Holland had to go on disability because of arthritis and other health issues.

The couple tried and failed several times to modify their mortgage, only to learn that its owner kept changing: After Countrywide, it was Bank of America, later Specialized Loan Servicing and most recently Bank of New York Mellon.

As an alternative to foreclosure, Holland listed her house — worth $270,000 at its peak — for less than $90,000 in a short sale. A buyer made an offer just days before the Justice Department settlement was announced Thursday.

INDEPENDENT MONITOR The Bank of America settlement will include the appointment of an independent monitor to review the consumer relief. This could take weeks and mean that “thousands of people who right now are in default or foreclosure” will miss the chance to reduce their mortgage balances, said Shanna Smith, president of the National Fair Housing Alliance.

Smith’s organization has investigated the fallout from the foreclosures. It has filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs that banks failed to maintain properties after borrowers defaulted. The alliance said it found that Bank of America enabled foreclosed homes in minority communities in Orlando, Denver, Memphis, Atlanta and elsewhere to slide into disrepair.

As part of the consumer relief, Bank of America has essentially pledged to help remedy neighborhood blight its neglect helped cause when it auctioned off foreclosed homes at steep discounts, Smith said.

“Bank of America created the problem,” she said.

The agreement with Bank of America caps a trio of deals over the past nine months. Each has been designed to punish some of the country’s leading financial institutions for their roles in bundling subprime mortgages into securities that were misleadingly sold as safe investments despite the high likelihood that borrowers would default.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to a $13 billion settlement while Citigroup reached a separate $7 billion deal.

Though the JP Morgan chase settlement was announced in November, the planned $4 billion in relief has yet to benefit many homeowners, according to the Home Defenders League, a national advocacy group.

Bank of America had initially resisted a settlement, because almost all the bad mortgage securities that led to the settlement came from Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, the two troubled firms the bank acquired in 2008 as the financial meltdown erupted.

But a federal judge in Manhattan

• from B1

Walls are extra thick with plenty of insulation, but every office has a glass door “We are intentionally building a community, and that requires density,” says Sherwood, CIC’s director in St. Louis.

The original CIC in Cambridge, Mass., has been around for 15 years and it currently houses 600 companies, many of them startups with ties to Massachusetts Institute of Technology or Harvard University.

On a tour of the still-underconstruction St. Louis space at 4240 Duncan Avenue, Sherwood pointed out some of the things CIC has learned about helping entrepreneurs work together without distracting one

another.

Walls are extra thick with plenty of insulation, but every office has a glass door. That makes the space quiet and private, but with a visual awareness of other community members.

As CIC’s Sept. 29 opening draws near, Sherwood has signed a few tenants, but he isn’t in a hurry. “It’s the type of place you really need to see to understand,” he said. “It’s going to take time to fill, and we’re prepared to let it happen in its own time.”

St. Louis has no shortage of technology incubators and co-

working spaces, including the T-Rex incubator downtown.

CIC’s prices, starting at $200 a month for a space at a co-working table, are higher than its competitors, but they also come with more amenities.

After committing to the @4240 space, CIC also leased the Center for Emerging Technologies, an existing incubator on Forest Park Avenue. It will be remodeled to create the same kind of dense, collaborative environment that CIC is building a few blocks away.

Sherwood says CIC should complement, rather than com-

pete with, other local incubators. In fact, he says CIC wouldn’t have expanded to St. Louis, its first market outside the Boston area, if it hadn’t seen vibrant startup spaces like TRex. Another plus was the ability to be part of the Cortex, a 12-year-old innovation district backed by Washington University, St. Louis University, the University of Missouri St. Louis, Missouri Botanical Garden and BJC HealthCare.

“We are here because we saw the vision, the support from the universities and the city that resembled what happened a few years ago in Boston and Cambridge,” Sherwood said.

After CIC opens next month, its nonprofit affiliate Venture

TO RECEIVE $300 MILLION For Illinois, the $16.65 billion Bank of America settlement means a cash payment of $200 million to the state’s pension system, making it whole for losses sustained as a result of the risky investments.

The deal also includes $100 million in consumer relief for struggling Illinois homeowners, according to the Illinois Attorney General’s office.

Five other states — California, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland and New York — also participated in the settlement.

“From the beginning, Countrywide played a major part in almost every aspect of fraudulent banking and conduct that contributed to the housing crisis, from shoddy loan originations to discriminatory lending in the African-American and Latino communities to terrible loan-servicing practices and now the fraudulent marketing of mortgage-backed securities,” Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Thursday.

“Settlements are never admissions of guilt,” Madigan added “However, nobody pays $17 billion when they don’t think there’s some liability.”

— Mary Ellen Podmolik, Chicago Tribune

ruled in a separate case that Bank of America was liable for those pre-merger mortgages and issued a penalty of nearly $1.3 billion. That helped spur the bank to forge a deal, with CEO Brian Moynihan saying Thursday that it is “in the best interests of our shareholders and allows us to continue to focus on the future.”

The settlement will resolve allegations that the bank and companies it later bought misrepresented the quality of loans they sold to investors. Besides the consumer relief, the deal includes a $5 billion cash penalty and $4.6 billion in remediation payments that could be tax-deductible depending on IRS guidance.

Bank of America’s stock surged more than 4 percent Thursday to close at $16.16.

NO CRIMINAL CHARGES No major bank executive has faced criminal charges stemming from the mortgage crisis. But the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles is preparing a civil lawsuit against Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide’s former chairman and chief executive, according to a person with knowledge of the preparations. The lawsuit would stem from the subprime mortgages offered and sold by Countrywide.

Government officials touted the consumer relief being offered in the Bank of America settlement. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said more than $1 billion would flow to 17,000 Florida homeowners in need.

But some of that money will likely be routed through the federal government’s Making Home Affordable Program, which was already supposed to be providing mortgage modifications and write-downs.

That program had helped 1.3 million homeowners as of November — fewer than half the 3 million to 4 million the government had originally expected, according to a February report by the Government Accountability Office.

And those 17,000 Florida homeowners represent just 1.8 percent of the state’s population living in homes worth less than their mortgage balance, according to the real estate firm Zillow.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference that the relief package was “appropriate given the size and scope of the wrongdoing at issue.”

Consumer advocates note that millions of Americans are still struggling to pay their mortgage more than five years after the Great Recession ended, a sign that the settlements are less than adequate.

“It is hard to see how these settlements provide relief commensurate with the harm caused,” said Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition.

Cafe will host events that will give many St. Louisans their first glimpse of the space. Jay DeLong, vice president for new ventures at the St. Louis Regional Chamber, is looking forward to that.

“It’s a testament to our startup ecosystem,” he said. “If they believe there is enough going on in St. Louis to fill that space, that is outside validation.”

It’s good news, then, that the folks from Cambridge are building some of the tiniest offices in town. They may be small, but they could be a powerful force for St. Louis’ economic future.