BRADFORD OUT FOR SEASON
MRI reveals Rams quarterback tore ACL in his left knee during preseason game. SPORTS • B1
MONDAY • 08.25.2014 • $1.50
‘A DAY OF SILENCE’ BROWN’S FATHER PLEADS FOR LULL WHILE SON IS LAID TO REST Hoping to unite, not divide BY ELISA CROUCH ecrouch@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8119
As his family has grieved, the Rev. Charles Ewing has spent this past week writing the eulogy he plans to deliver today for his nephew, Michael Brown, whose shooting death by a police officer began nearly two weeks of unrest in Ferguson. Ewing said he was writing “what God is giving me. To heal the hurt. Not only in the city of Ferguson, but the whole nation.
PeaceFest is forum for Ferguson cause
The whole world is hurting.” He will deliver his message today to a crowd expected to overflow Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis, one of a handful of area churches capable of accommodating the expected large turnout. Attending the service will be civil rights leaders such as the Rev. Al Sharpton, who was asked to speak, and black elected leaders such as U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Rep. William
BY STEVE GIEGERICH sgiegerich@post-dispatch.com 314-725-6758
ROBERT COHEN • rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Activist Anthony Shahid (left), Michael Brown Sr. and the Rev. Al Sharpton wait to speak at PeaceFest 2014 in Forest Park on Sunday.
See EULOGY • Page A8
ST. LOUIS • On the eve of his son’s funeral, an emotional Michael Brown Sr. asked Sunday night for a day of calm to honor the memory of the 18-yearold who has become an international icon in the two weeks since he was fatally wounded by a Ferguson police officer. “Tomorrow, all I want is peace while my son is being laid to rest. Please, please take a day of silence so we can lay our son to rest. Please. That’s all I ask. And thank you,” Brown told an audience of about 600 gathered on the sweltering Central Fields of Forest Park for PeaceFest 2014. The Rev. Al Sharpton, accompanying Brown on the PeaceFest stage, seconded the plea to set aside a day to remember the life of the 2014 No r m a n dy H i g h Sc h o o l See PEACE • Page A7
Man in photo wasn’t angry Inside • A9
Black legislators meet with Nixon, air frustration Inside • A7
Concert raises money for Brown’s family Inside • A9
Inner-ring suburbs are ticking time bombs
J.B. FORBES • jforbes@post-dispatch.com
“We need your help, Lord,” Dorothy Gant, 64, of Jennings cries at the Family of Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Ferguson on Sunday morning at a prayer vigil for peace in Ferguson. The church is behind the Ferguson Market and Liquor store, where much of the protesting took place.
Top Islamic authority rebukes militants
BY SARAH EL DEEB Associated Press
CAIRO • The top Islamic author-
ity in Egypt, revered by many Muslims worldwide, launched an Internet-based campaign Sunday challenging an extremist group in Syria and Iraq by saying it should not be called an “Is-
Group controlling parts of Syria and Iraq should not be called an ‘Islamic State.’ TODAY
79°/98°
Guest commentary • A12
lamic State.” The campaign by the Dar elIfta, an educational and legal research institute that advises Muslims on spiritual and life issues, adds to the war of words by Muslim leaders across the world targeting the Islamic State group, which controls wide swaths of Iraq and Syria. Its violent at-
tacks, which have included mass shootings, destruction of Shiite shrines, atrocities against minorities and hostages including American journalist James Foley, have shocked Muslims and nonMuslims alike. The Grand Mufti of Egypt, See ISLAMIC STATE • Page A4
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08.25.2014 • Monday • M 1
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A7
ferguson police shooting
Black legislators meet with Nixon, air frustration Some cite more calls for indictment of Wilson, removal of McCulloch from case. By Joel Currier jcurrier@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8256
ST. LOUIS COUNTY • Members
of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus used a meeting Sunday with Gov. Jay Nixon to vent over the investigation into the Aug. 9 shooting death of an unarmed Ferguson teenager. The meeting Sunday afternoon at the University of Missouri-St.
Louis was closed to the public and reporters, but some legislators said they repeated calls for an indictment of Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson and for Nixon to remove St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch from the case. “He’s pretending he cares,” said Sen. Maria ChappelleNadal, D-University City, who walked out of the meeting after about 10 minutes. “It’s a waste
of time. He’s doing this to look good.” About a dozen legislators attended, including representatives from Kansas City. The caucus’ vice-chairman, Rep. Brandon Ellington, D-Kansas City, called the meeting “productive” but declined further comment. After the meeting, Nixon said in an interview that he would not replace McCulloch, saying the prosecutor “has a duty and
responsibility to do his job, and that’s what he should do.” Nixon wouldn’t give specifics on what was discussed but said he thought the meeting was a “good, solid first step” toward developing “long-term solutions.” Nixon also said he planned to attend Brown’s funeral set for 10 a.m. today at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, 5515 Martin Luther King Drive.
State Rep. Karla May, D-St. Louis, said she was among members calling for an immediate indictment of Wilson, which she believes would mollify people frustrated with the shooting investigation. May said that her constituents “want an arrest and a charge. They feel like our plight is being ignored, as usual.”
“Mum is the word until Michael Brown is laid to rest. Then, justice.” — The Rev. Al Sharpton
Robert Cohen • rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Cynthia Sanders (right) joins the crowd showing peace signs as she and Evelyn Beverly of Collinsville attend PeaceFest 2014 in Forest Park on Sunday.
PeaceFest in park eases tension PEACE
•
from A1
graduate. “Mum is the word until Michael Brown is laid to rest,” Sharpton told the crowd. “Then, justice.” The parents of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen killed in a 2012 encounter with a community watch volunteer, also appeared at PeaceFest — an annual event planned far in advance of the event in Ferguson that has shook the region and the nation. “You all stood for the family of Trayvon Martin, and we’re going to stand for you,” promised Tracy Martin, his father. Martin was among a number of speakers who during the day urged PeaceFest attendees to channel the outrage into positive outcomes for justice at the ballot box. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., a St. Louis native and Sumner High School graduate, earlier sounded a similar refrain. Brown’s mother, Leslie McSpadden, also attended the event. The appearance of the families of Brown and Martin highlighted a day of music and oppressive heat that kept attendance to a minimum until late afternoon. The afternoon sun beating down on Central Fields contributed to attendees’ being far outnumbered by the vendors of cellphones, jewelry, food, insurance, clothing and other items. Sweltering vendors blamed the weather for slow sales. In deference to the heat, one vendor discounted Michael Brown memorial T-shirts from $13 to $10. Event organizers saw to it that for one day, anyway, the ubiquitous rallying cry of Ferguson demonstrators — “Hands Up! Don’t Shoot!” — was matched with frequently met requests to “throw out the peace sign!” The event was sponsored by Better Family Life. The nonprofit’s director, Malik Ahmed, said that Brown’s death should serve as a starting point to address the lack of jobs, affordable housing,
J.B. Forbes • jforbes@post-dispatch.com
Tracy Martin poses in front of the memorial for Michael Brown at the Canfield Green apartment complex in Ferguson on Sunday, for passers-by who wanted his picture. Martin is the father of Trayvon Martin, who was killed in Florida by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman. Martin came to Ferguson to meet with Brown's parents.
quality education and other obstacles facing the African-American community in St. Louis and beyond. Stephen and Desiree Hutton of Berkeley staked out a location beneath a sprawling maple when they arrived midafternoon. The Huttons attended PeaceFest in 2013 but said the situation in Ferguson instilled additional meaning to the event this year. Stephen Hutton said the overarching PeaceFest message “takes a little of the tension away. “But we still basically have to wait to see what happens. Tomorrow is the funeral. But there are a lot of steps after that.” Terry Crate traveled the five miles to Forest Park from his home in Pagedale after watching
an account of the event on the news. Crate, who has avoided the demonstrations along West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson in the two weeks since Brown was shot, said the draw Sunday was music along with an opportunity to be part of a larger cause. “I didn’t want to get in with that crowd,” he said of the Ferguson protesters. “But I don’t mind this crowd, they’re peaceful.” Another attendee asked that he not be identified by name because he just moved to the area from the Bronx, N.Y. “I said St. Louis was below the radar before I moved here,” he said. That, the newly arrived resident added sadly, is certainly no longer the case.
‘STAGE OF HEALING’ After sunset on Sunday, traffic rolled on West Florissant Avenue as if riots never happened. About 15 people were scattered along the avenue, or in parking lots, some chatting in small groups. One man carried an American flag. Two peddled “I survived the Ferguson riot” T-shirts for $10. Barbers Ikino Jones and Antion Drummond stood outside Clip Appeal, where they rent booths, and lamented the lack of business during the protests. “I just think we’re at the stage of healing now,” said Drummond, 43, of south St. Louis, a father of two young boys who also works as a chemical operator. Jones, 38, of Maryland Heights, has four children and is engaged
to be married. He worries about what the police will do once the media isn’t watching. “They’re going to have the same free range, but they’re going to come down harder,” he said.
MARCH IS CANCELED The New Spirit of St. Louis “Ferguson Peace March” scheduled for today has been canceled because of to heat warnings, organizers said. A new date is being planned. Lilly Fowler and Nicholas J.C. Pistor of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
A8 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
M 2 • MONDAY • 08.25.2014
FERGUSON POLICE SHOOTING
SCENES FROM SUNDAY People seek paths to healing two weeks after slaying.
J.B. FORBES • jforbes@post-dispatch.com
Five young men who live in the Canfield Green apartment complex in Ferguson and who knew Michael Brown watch all the activity around the shooting scene memorial on Sunday. They are (front row, from left) Kareem Ivery, 20; and J.R. Jackson, 22; (back row, from left) Hakem Ivery, 18; Brandon Haywood, 17; and Dashawn Dabney, 16. “He was a real person,” Kareem Ivery said. “He had no problems with nobody. That's how cool he was. That could have been any one of us out there in the street.”
J.B. FORBES • jforbes@post-dispatch.com
“I could see you were struggling," Hazel Wright (left), 54, said as she offered a hug to Kelly Griffith, 46, from Ballwin, at the Canfield Green apartment complex in Ferguson on Sunday. Griffith was overcome with emotion as she observed the memorial for Michael Brown in the middle of the street where he died. Griffith had been volunteering with Destiny Church, offering free lunches along West Florissant Avenue.
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DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com Temple Friendly Cassandra Conner, a science teacher at Wydown Middle School in Clayton, Temple into the ground outside Ferguson Middle School on Sunday. More than 600 pinwheels were Missionary Delmarpushes pinwheels Forwelcome Missionary est Pa made by the students of Wydown Middle School to help the students Ferguson Middle School back on their first day of classes today. The pinwheels, mounted on pencils, Baptistof rk Forest PChurch Baptist ar k contain messages of peace and hope. Church Delmar
Post-Dispatch
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Other victims’ families share their experiences •
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Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis. But also present will be a number of African-American families who know what it’s like to lose someone in a way that’s so violent, so sudden and so public. Their losses also have triggered protests drawing attention to the nation’s racial divisions and questionable use of force by law enforcement. They include the parents of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was unarmed and fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer two years ago in Sanford, Fla. The cousin of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old who was tortured and murdered in 1955 by whites for reportedly whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. The aunt and uncle of Oscar Grant, the 22-year-old who was unarmed and fatally shot in 2009 by a white police officer inside a subway system in Oakland, Calif. And there are more. Each time a new family is added, members of this network reach out. Many said they would be there today. “As a unit we’re growing, unfortunately,” said Erica GordonTaylor, Emmett Till’s cousin, in St. Louis for a second time in two weeks. Days after Brown’s death, Gordon-Taylor drove to Ferguson from her home in Chicago. She took pictures of the rose petals and memorials on Canfield
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FROM A1
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EULOGY
software developer at a Florida gas station. The man had asked Jordan and his friends to turn their music down. He fired several shots into the car. He later said Jordan had threatened him. The man was convicted of three counts of attempted second-degree murder, but the case ended in a mistrial. Ron Davis, who arrived for the funeral on Friday, said he hoped to meet with Brown’s family before the funeral to offer support. “Whether it’s hugs or whether it’s conversation,” Davis said. “There’s no blueprint, there are no bullet points. There’s just love.” The support from these families and thousands of others is appreciated, Ewing said. His focus, however, has been the funeral. The eulogy. Ewing said he wanted it to unite people, not divide them. He also hopes his message will shed light on aspects of his nephew that have been overshadowed by a video taping showing him shoving a store clerk and stealing from a nearby store moments before the shooting. Ewing said he would tell the story of Brown’s receiving Jesus Christ as his savior weeks before he died. Ewing is the pastor at Jennings Mason Temple Church. But it was Brown’s stepmother who had been ministering to him. “We’re getting through this,” Ewing said. “We want the world to see and know we are Godfearing and God-loving people.”
08.25.2014 • Monday • M 2
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A9
ferguson police shooting edward crawford
Subject of iconic photo speaks out He says he wasn’t angry when he picked up a tear gas container and hurled it.
Robert Cohen • PD
Robert Cohen • rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Edward Crawford throws back a tear gas container after tactical officers worked to break up a group of bystanders in Ferguson on Aug. 13. By David Hunn dhunn@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8121
This is Edward Crawford. He’s 25, went to University City High School and works at a bistro on the Delmar Loop. He’s a waiter, a roller skater and a father of three. And, just after midnight on Aug. 13, he grabbed a sparking, smoking tear gas cylinder, fired by police at Ferguson protesters, and threw it back. The photo, taken by Post-Dispatch photographer Robert Cohen, has become an iconic image of the now two-week protest along West Florissant Avenue. For many, the act bottles up all the anger directed at police after the shooting of unarmed black teen Michael Brown. It represents defiance against police aggression. And the shirt Crawford is wearing, with the American flag down the middle, identifies the irony of the moment. But Crawford says he wasn’t angry when he threw it. He was angry beforehand. Afterward — as he was being dragged out of a car, cuffed and jailed — he was mostly just scared.
And throwing it wasn’t an act of rebellion, he said. It was instinct. Crawford lives in University City, as he has since he was a child. His brother lives a few streets from the apartments on Canfield Drive in Ferguson, where Brown was shot three Saturdays ago. His brother told him about the shooting. On the Tuesday night after the shooting, Crawford got off work at Ginger Bistro and went home to change. He grabbed one of his favorite T-shirts, with three-quarter sleeves and an American flag down the front. He loves the baseball-style tees, and owns two, but the black-and-white one was dirty. He borrowed his mother’s Cardinals socks, and tied up his blue Nikes. Then he and a friend drove to a park to visit her father, who was fishing for catfish and sturgeon, before heading to Ferguson to get a sense of the gathering there. Crawford does not consider himself unusually brave. Yes, he has a rap sheet, but it is brief: After his stepfather was murdered a few years ago, he carried an illegal gun and got caught. He quit the U. City High football team after a particularly hard hit on the second day of practice. He lives with his mother.
And he takes his children roller skating every Sunday. This would be his first protest. And what he found in Ferguson that night wasn’t violent, he said. It was electric. Alive. At some point, he saw a guy with a bag of chips. Crawford asked for some. The guy gave him a whole bag of the spicy local favorites, Red Hot Riplets. “It was cool,” Crawford said of the scene. At least at first. Then he remembers the police lining up in riot gear. He remembers batons beating on shields, officers pushing protesters back. “It looked like something you’d see in a movie,” he said. He doesn’t understand why police started firing rubber bullets (or wooden pellets, it’s unclear which) and all of the smoking canisters. He insists he saw no guns among protesters, no homemade bombs, no projectiles of any kind. And, at that moment, he was angry. “Why,” he thought, “are you all shooting people?” Then came a boom, like a cannon going off. And an impact, just feet away. “It landed so close,” he said. “I didn’t know
Edward Crawford has found fame after coming forward as the man pictured in a Post-Dispatch photograph symbolic of Ferguson unrest after the police shooting of Michael Brown.
what it was. It was on fire. It was spinning.” Crawford, a slight man with long, neat dreadlocks, a wisp of a mustache and fuzzy chin beard, jumped over the sparks, waited for it to stop spinning, and grabbed it. It was cool to the touch, he said. Crawford told the Post-Dispatch that he didn’t intentionally throw it at cops. He just threw it. Ten minutes later, he went to get his friend’s car. But before he could pick her up, police surrounded him. One beat in a window. Another jerked open a door. “I’ve never in my life witnessed anything like that,” he said. Police logs note Crawford was charged with officer interference — though his attorney hasn’t seen the charges. He was released from the St. Louis County jail that morning, and, he said, walked home to University City. But now that the image of Crawford’s mighty heave is on T-shirts, posters, walls and all over Twitter, Crawford has new ideas. He’d like to get more involved in the community, he said. Talk to youth. Organize the movement. And maybe, he said, help change St. Louis.
michael brown benefit CONCERT
Hip-hop artists deliver emotional messages By Kevin C. Johnson kjohnson@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8191
The crowd was on the light side, but positive sentiments overflowed at the Michael Brown Benefit Show on Sunday at Plush in midtown St. Louis. Many artists representing St. Louis’ hip-hop community, acts such as Tef Poe, Doorway, Indiana Rome, Ruka Puff and sole R&B act Coco Soul, performed at the benefit show in the name of Brown, the Ferguson teenager killed over two weeks ago by police Officer Darren Wilson. Proceeds from the event are going to Brown’s family. Donations were collected on stage throughout the night. The performers’ tactics and messages varied but were obviously linked by Brown’s death and its wide-reaching aftermath. Lamar “Finsta” Williams, who hosted the Slum F.E.S.T. presentation along with Robert “Rob Boo” Ford, said many of the artists performing had been on the front line of the protests in Ferguson, and they might not hold back their emotions. That was true of Tef Poe, considered one of St. Louis’ artists on the forefront of activism in the wake of Brown. Tef Poe, who performed his “Coming Out of Missouri,” said Brown didn’t die in vain. His hypedup performance, the evening’s strongest amongst a strong evening, included slams of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, and referenced troops being sent to kill in Ferguson. World music/reggae artist Mario Charles and his band performed songs of freedom and motivation with lyrics that asked “What is going on? Where did we go wrong?” Coco Soul said the issue was deeper than Brown, that it was about the cause, the virus affecting them, before performing Rachelle Ferrell’s “Peace on Earth” and Erykah Badu’s “A.D. 2000.” Gospel rapper Thi’sl said he has been in the streets since Brown’s death and will stay in the streets long after Brown before performing “Fallen Angel.” Rapper T-Dubb O said it was time to take back the streets. Rapper Ruka Puff said his first instinct after Brown’s death was to strike out, but he felt God would see him better served doing something else. He performed an untitled song that spoke of “killing a homie” who didn’t do a thing, and fighting because that’s his right. Rapper-singer Black Spade crooned, and cursed the ice bucket challenge for ALS that has taken over Facebook. Some
Roberto Rodriguez • rrodriguez@post-dispatch.com
Sal Calhoon and Allen Gates, both of St. Louis, perform Sunday during a benefit concert for Michael Brown’s family at Plush, 3224 Locust Street. Tickets were $5 and donations were collected.
believe it is a distraction devised to take attention away from events in Ferguson. Indiana Rome told the crowd not to let anyone tell them their efforts relating to Ferguson aren’t worth it. The Domino Effect’s set was briefly delayed by technical issues that included a loud sound that resembled a gun shot. One of the rappers said he almost started running. The group performed new song “Ground Zero,” which included the lyric “He put his hands up/that should have been a sign/but instead they killed him execution style.” Rapper BoDean asked for a moment of silence. He talked up State of Emergency, a new organization devoted to promoting justice for Brown. Signatures in support of State of Emergency were collected. BoDean told the crowd to not feel bad if they weren’t able to make it out to protests, that jobs and other obligations can prevent such. But he pointed out there are
other ways for them to play their parts. Rapper RT-FaQ of Doorway brought his two young sons on stage, Heir Jordin, 5, who rapped a song that name-checked Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass, while Teddy, 2, played drums. RTFaQ and Whiteout of Doorway said the performance was a release from all the drama going on. Rapper Haiku admitted he didn’t quite know what to say. He just wanted to get on stage and escape reality for a minute. Rapper Ackurate engaged the crowd in the event’s first “hands up, don’t shoot” chant. He reminded the crowd to not forget about Trayvon Martin, and in a lyric equated being a black child to being a “black carcass.” Montague Simmons, an activist with Organization of Black Struggle, said the eyes of the nation are on St. Louis and this is truly a moment in history. He said Brown’s death triggered something other
similar deaths did not, and that this was transforming. Simmons asked for the protesters to stand down on Monday in respect to Brown’s funeral, but to plug back in on Tuesday. Rennell Parker encouraged the crowd to speak up and speak out, and had the crowd form a motivation circle with men on the outside and women on the inside. He had them chant “I love me.” Among the others to perform were Nato Caliph and Allen Gates. Rapper Thelonius Kryptonite talked to the crowd about the Justice for Michael Brown Leadership Coalition, whose demands include the firing and arrest of Officer Wilson, the removal of St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch and the removal of Ferguson Mayor James Knowles and Police Chief Thomas Jackson. DJs Smitty and Tech Supreme spun throughout the evening.
08.25.2014 • Monday • M 1
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A11
Stl Monday Inside this section A11 • Heads Up A12 • Opinion A14 • Funeral notices A16 • Weather A17 • People
Bill McClellan • bmcclellan@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8143
Secrecy lets rumors fly, mistrust grow
COLUMNIST SCHEDULE Sunday • Bill McClellan Monday • Bill McClellan Wednesday • Bill McClellan Friday • Bill McClellan Saturday • Joe Holleman’s “Joe’s St. Louis”
On a Saturday in April 2001, an unarmed 19-year-old black man was shot and killed by a white police officer in Cincinnati. Protests turned into riots and stores were looted. The city’s reputation was trashed. Peter Bronson wrote a book about it. Last week, he wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal about lessons learned. The No. 1 lesson was this: “Tell the public everything immediately.” Not providing information immediately gave people the perception that the police were hiding something, Bronson wrote. Too bad he couldn’t have been advising authorities in Ferguson. Our situation had an element that Cincinnati lacked — social media. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told me that when he got to the scene of the shooting, a large crowd had already gathered and most of the crowd was either filming the scene or taking pictures. Those images were then broadcast on Twitter. Facebook pages were filled with images. Emails zipped around. Those first images were horrific. Brown’s body was on the street for something like four hours. Jackson said he realized at the scene that this case was going to “light up” because of social media, and yet he and St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar tried to put a lid on information. What a colossal mistake. People wanted answers, explanations, and got almost nothing. Somebody quickly leaked the fact that Brown had been involved in a strong-arm robbery a few minutes before the shooting. But police would not confirm that until days later, when Jackson surprised state authorities by releasing a video recording of the robbery. To some people, it seemed an effort to “thug-up” Brown. Jackson defended the decision to release the videotape on the grounds that the media had requested it. Fine. But why do things piecemeal? If information had been released promptly, nobody could question the timing of the release. In fact, if it were not for the private autopsy performed at the behest of Brown’s family, we still would not know how many times Brown was shot. This is not an isolated incident. Authorities tell the public less and less. Information has become tightly controlled. Not so many years ago, a reporter could walk into a police station and talk to the desk sergeant about something. De-
What’s up • From events.stltoday.com Free vaccination clinic • The Jefferson County Health Department is offering free vaccinations for any student age 11-26, regardless of insurance status. Tdap, Gardasil (one dose) and meningitis vaccinations will be offered. Vaccination clinics will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the Hillsboro location at 405 Main Street, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Arnold location and at 1818 Lonedell Road. Client vaccination record is required, no appointment is necessary, and doses will be offered while supplies last. For more information, call 636-7893372 and ask for Edie or Chris.
08.25
Chess tournament begins • The Second Annual Sinquefield Cup begins Wednesday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. The event, which lasts until Sept. 7, features six of the world’s top 10 players, making it the highest-rated tournament in history. The players will be competing for a total $315,000 prize fund, with $100,000 going to the winner. The chess club is at 4657 Maryland Avenue. Tickets to watch one round are $10; $65 for five rounds; and $100 for all 10 rounds. saintlouischessclub.org
08.27
Documentary on cyclist • The movie “Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist” will be screened at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Des Peres 14, 12701 Manchester Road. The documentary explores one man’s descent from being among the finest athletes on earth to his tragic end in a sport riven by intrigue. In 1998, Marco Pantani, a flamboyant and popular cyclist, won both the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia — a feat no rider has repeated since. He was a hero to millions, but less than six years later, at age 34, he died alone in a cheap Italian hotel room. Tickets are normal box office price and available now at the theater, or the website www. wehrenberg.com. This movie is unrated.
08.27
To list a community event or meeting, submit it online at events.stltoday.com
Heads up Water flushing program in Metro East • Illinois American Water is conducting its annual “free chlorine” and main-hydrant flushing programs in the metro east over the next two months. The company will switch to a form of chlorine known as “free chlorine,” which does not contain ammonia. During the temporary treatment change, customers may experience a more noticeable chlorine taste or odor in their water. There is no reason for concern. When crews are working, customers may experience a temporary drop in water pressure or draw some discolored water for a short period of time. If this occurs, customers should simply let the water run briefly and the situation should clear up on its own. The maintenance program may temporarily affect customers in all direct service communities in the Belleville, East St. Louis and Granite City areas and also sale-forresale (wholesale) communities. For more information, customers can visit www.illinoisamwater.com or contact Illinois American Water’s customer service center at 1-800-422-2782. To submit items, email them to headsup@post-dispatch.com or fax them to 314-340-3050.
tectives were allowed to talk to the press. Police matter were considered public. Same way at the circuit attorney’s office. I remember walking in, saying hello to the receptionist and strolling back to talk to an assistant circuit attorney about a case. Public information. America. These days, it’s more like Eastern Europe in the fifties. Sergeants can’t talk. Detectives can’t talk. Prosecutors can’t talk. It’s probably worse the higher up you go. Who knows the secrets the federal government is keeping? Ask Edward Snowden. Global surveillance programs and data mining. Much of it done with the cooperation of telecommunications companies. Needless to say, there are always wonderful reasons for keeping us in the dark. At the highest levels, it’s national security. Don’t worry about surveillance programs. If you’re not doing anything wrong, why should you care? Excellent reasons at the local level, too. We don’t want to prejudice potential jurors. Or potential witnesses. That sounds reasonable, except that we didn’t used to have such problems when things were more open. Now and then a case had to get moved because of pre-trial publicity, but that seems like a small price to pay for transparency. By the way, authorities didn’t even start talking about transparency until they opposed it. As for influencing witnesses and eliciting false confessions, police were always careful to keep a couple of facts out of the press. The more powerless you feel, the more you distrust government. Some of the people who’ve been marching in Ferguson are in the Ferguson-Florissant school district. That’s a majority black school district. Last year, a school board with no black members pushed out a popular black superintendent. Why? The board couldn’t say. It was a personnel matter. Innuendos would have to suffice. Now we’ve got the shooting death in Ferguson. Very little hard information, but plenty of rumors and all of them in support of the officer. Witnesses support the police officer. The officer suffered serious injuries. Are these things true? Who knows? The grand jury proceedings will, as always, be secret. The people who feel powerless just need a little faith. Things have only gotten worse since Cincinnati burned.
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MONDAY • 08.25.2014 • A12
Inner-ring suburbs like Ferguson are ticking time bombs Guest commentary • A strong community organizing movement could help shift the balance of political power in Ferguson. BY PETER DREIER AND TODD SWANSTROM • Special To The Washington Post
The current turmoil in Ferguson, Mo., follows the trajectory of urban riots in Newark, Detroit, Cincinnati, Miami, Oakland, Los Angeles and elsewhere. They typically begin with an incident of racially tinged police abuse. Outraged members of the black community organize protests, the police overreact, and the protests become more violent and threatening. But there’s a key difference this time — Ferguson is a suburb. More specifically, it’s a suburban ghetto. Today, about 40 percent of the nation’s 46 million poor live in suburbs, up from 20 percent in 1970. These communities (often inner-ring suburbs) are beset with problems once associated with big cities: unemployment (especially among young men), crime, homelessness and inadequate schools and public services. Their populations are disproportionately black and Latino. Ferguson is a microcosm of these problems and how they can erupt. But without major reforms, the current upheaval may be the first in a wave of suburban riots. One major problem is political representation. Two-thirds of Ferguson’s residents are black, but blacks are severely underrepresented in Ferguson’s city government and school board. The mayor is white, as are five of six City Council members. Six of seven school board members are white. The main reason for this discrepancy is simple: Blacks vote at a remarkably low rate in local elections. In 2012, the year President Barack Obama ran for re-election, blacks in Ferguson voted at almost the same rate as whites (54 percent versus 55 percent), but in the 2013 municipal election, they voted at less than half the rate of whites (7 percent vs. 17 percent). Blacks’ weak representation in local politics has real consequences. The Ferguson police department, for example, has a long history of abusing its black citizens. Only three out of 53 police officers in Ferguson are black. If blacks had a real voice in Ferguson city government, they could have made hiring more black police officers a high priority. But the harsh reality is that control over Ferguson city government and schools is largely a “hollow prize.” Diversifying the police department wouldn’t change the fact that police officers in Ferguson and many other small suburbs are underpaid, lack professional training and spend too much of their time handing out traffic tickets in order to boost city revenues. (Nearly one-fourth of Ferguson’s revenues come from court fees.) Like many other poor suburbs, Ferguson is simply too small and too poor to address the underlying racial and economic disparities that are fueling the current protests. It lacks good public transportation to areas with good jobs, isolating it from economic opportunity. In 2012, more than one in four residents of Ferguson were below the poverty level, more than twice St. Louis County’s poverty rate. In some Ferguson census tracts the poverty rate is as high as 33 percent. Unlike most big cities, it has few social agencies and private foundations devoted to job training, affordable housing and other programs. It has few hospitals and health clinics. Banks, supermarkets, pharmacies and other retailers either bypass these communities or exploit them with predatory loans, high prices and lousy service. Almost half of Ferguson’s homeowners are “underwater” — they are drowning in debt because their homes are worth less than their mortgages. In 2011, per capita assessed valuation in Ferguson was only $8,910 — about one-third of the
St. Louis County average. These suburbs are not poor by accident. Greater St. Louis is one of the most racially and economically segregated areas in the country, a result of long-standing discriminatory practices by banks, home builders and landlords, as well as local governments. With 387 local governments — each competing with each other for private investment and other resources — the St. Louis region ranks third in governmental fragmentation among urban areas. Zoning laws that prohibit apartments and require expensive homes on large lots prevent low-income families, who are disproportionately black, from moving to job-rich parts of the region. As a result, subsidized lowincome housing is concentrated in areas that already have high poverty rates, such as the apartment complexes on the eastern edge of Ferguson where the shooting of Michael Brown occurred. Sporadic protests can draw attention to these problems, but only ongoing grassroots community organizing can give Ferguson’s black citizens the voice they require to have a seat at the political table. A strong community organizing movement, based in local churches and neighborhood groups, helped by experienced organizers, could mobilize a voter registration and turnout effort, and increase civic engagement, to shift the balance of political power in Ferguson. Ferguson’s black residents need to organize to strengthen their political voice, but the city’s white residents, who are mainly working-class, are also trapped in a system that primarily benefits the wealthy who live in affluent suburbs or upscale enclaves in cities. What’s needed now is an interracial coalition of St. Louis and its troubled suburbs. Together, they could take important steps to bring the region’s low-income and working-class families into the economic and educational mainstream. We need local, state and federal policy reforms, including greater and more equal school funding, shifting funds from highways to public transit, regional land use planning to open up suburbs to workforce housing, raising federal and state minimum wages to help lift workers out of poverty, fix-it-first infrastructure policies that invest in older parts of the region before building new infrastructure in the outlying exurbs, job training and hiring policies that provide poor and minority residents with more jobs in the region’s infrastructure projects, as well as increasing minority representation among cops, firefighters, school teachers and other municipal jobs. Ultimately, fragmented suburban governments and school districts need to merge. None of this will happen until religious, community, civic, labor and enlightened business leaders join forces in a regional network that includes community organizing and political mobilization. Existing groups such as Metropolitan Congregations United, Jobs with Justice, and Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment are already doing good work but need more resources to build a powerful movement for local and regional justice. We all have a stake in linking cities and suburbs to address the racial, economic and political inequities that are the root cause of so much alienation and unrest in poor communities throughout the country. Peter Dreier is a professor of politics and chair of the Urban & Environmental Policy Department at Occidental College. He and Swanstrom are co-authors of “Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century. Todd Swanstrom is a professor of community collaboration and public policy administration at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
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YOUR VIEWS • LETTERS FROM OUR READERS Release of shooting report should not depend on whims of police chief Many thanks to Bill McClellan for shining a light on the murky decision-making process of Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson. In Wednesday’s column, “Police chief takes on battle of words,” McClellan repeated Chief Jackson’s explanation that he had no choice but to release the surveillance video of Michael Brown allegedly stealing cigars from a convenience store. “The press was filing Freedom of Information requests,” Jackson explained. He told the media that he was worried about being sued. If media requests and the threat of lawsuits provide sufficient reason to release the convenience store video and incident report, why hadn’t he released the incident report on Michael Brown’s shooting by a Ferguson police officer until late Thursday? And even then, it was heavily redacted. Even before Chief Jackson released the convenience store video, the ACLU of Missouri had requested the shooting incident report under Missouri’s Sunshine Law, and had filed a lawsuit to compel the police to release it. Chief Jackson’s release of the convenience store incident report while continuing to withhold the full, unredacted incident report on Brown’s shooting was a cynical attempt to manipulate public opinion. Selective release of public information is not his right under the law. The public clearly has a right to know the complete and unedited content of the shooting incident report — now. Public access to that information should not be based upon the arbitrary whims of the police chief. Brad Pierce • St. Louis President, American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri
Cooperating with police will keep you safe Regarding R.L. Nave’s commentary, “I know Michael Brown’s world” (Aug. 21): I read your article and the stories about being hassled by the cops. I’m truly sorry that you feel like you live in an environment where you could be killed at any time by a cop. I don’t know what that is like. However, I do think I can tell you why you haven’t been, and won’t ever be, killed by a cop. You cooperated. You did what they asked you to. You may not have wanted to, but it kept that gun in their holster, and it kept you safe. Even if they may have been abusive, or even had they violated your civil rights — by cooperating you kept the encounter from escalating. And abuse and civil rights can be addressed after the fact at the station, or by a good civil rights lawyer. It’s a good strategy and good piece of advice for kids of all races. Cooperate. It will keep you safe. If you really want to screw with them, actually be polite to the cops — even if you don’t think they deserve it. Who knows, they might return the favor. Call it extreme civil obedience. Sort of the opposite of what the Post-Dispatch seems to be advocating. Mike Micotto • Webster Groves
Tell us how the police feel, too Regarding the commentary “I know Michael Brown’s world” (Aug. 21): It would be so refreshing if your paper would publish an article written by a policeman titled “I know Darren Wilson’s World.” I will not hold my breath waiting. Dorothea Wolf • Rolla, Mo.
Publishing personal background of Wilson, parents was uncalled for Please illuminate me how your reporters Jeremy Kohler, David Hunn and Robert Patrick believed the publication of the personal backgrounds of Officer Darren Wilson and his parents is relevant to this case (“Police Officer Wilson keeping low profile,” Aug. 21). Detailing their financial and marital woes does not bring any value to this situation. It would be to the credit of these reporters if I could call them muckrackers, but they do not even rate that. I will let these wannabe Pulitzer Prize-winning so-called journalists research the
GILBERT BAILON EDITOR
background of this term. This type of article is more appropriate for the National Enquirer. And if once you reflect on publishing this information and decide it truly was uncalled for, do more than publish an apology. Do something meaningful: Donate to Officer Wilson’s support fund. And publish in the paper that you did indeed donate to demonstrate your request for forgiveness. Step up and show you are better than your comrades at KSDK, who broadcast video of Officer Wilson’s home in Crestwood. They assumed broadcasting a half-hearted apology rectified everything. Unfortunately the damage was already done. And in the interest of fair and balanced reporting, I expect to see the same information published on Michael Brown and his parents. I want to see if their background information shows they are pillars of the community. R. Skurat • St. Charles
Media, leaders rush to proclaim officer guilty Officer Darren Wilson is being proclaimed guilty of “assassination” and “murder” by local and national leaders, and protesters, before the grand jury has even had time to determine the facts of the case and figure out exactly what happened. This is part of the reason why we have had all of the mayhem in the streets — because of inflammatory comments made by these people that are then proclaimed in the media as truth. We don’t know the whole truth yet of who did what, and we haven’t heard the officer’s side of the story. I am so tired of the one-sided bias and verdicts of assumed guilt proclaimed on Officer Wilson in comments made by Al Sharpton, Gov. Jay Nixon, Rep. William Lacy Clay, community activists and others. Additionally, the national TV media networks, and in particular CNN, have exhibited the same bias in their coverage of the situation. Why doesn’t the media get the other side of the story, or at least challenge these people when they make these comments, rather than assuming it to be the factual truth? Can we all please wait a minute here and first let the grand jury interview people and get the facts of exactly what happened before we proclaim Officer Wilson guilty? Jay Eichenlaub • Ballwin
Brown, Wilson both may have reacted to fear for their lives Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who killed Michael Brown, may or may not be convicted of murder due to a defense that he feared for his life. Now let’s look at fear for his life through the eyes of Michael Brown. We have been told that Michael Brown and his friend were walking in the street in their neighborhood. Young people walk, ride their skateboards and bikes, walk their dogs in the middle of the streets in my neighborhood and they impede traffic but the police do not pull them over. I’ve been pulled over by police for driving a wee bit fast, and it does raise the anxiety level, which would be a normal response for a young man in any situation. Didn’t Michael Brown fear for his life when Darren Wilson displayed his gun? Was running away a natural response for an unarmed person? So both individuals may have reacted to fear for their lives. Why can children walk in the streets in my neighborhood without fear of police questioning but children in black neighborhoods can not? This is the big question. J.M. Hardin • Des Peres
Brown paid a terrible price In the letter “All of this could have been prevented” (Aug. 20), Mr. Faust says Michael Brown could have prevented his own death if he had shown more discipline and civil behavior. Does he believe that a driver who runs through a red light should be shot rather than arrested for that crime? Michael Brown paid a terrible price for his disrespect of the law. Let’s not blame him for his death. Millie Johanningmeier • Overland
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