Minutes of silence, march mark Brown anniversary

Associated Press

FERGUSON, MO.

One year after the shooting that cast greater scrutiny on how police interact with black communities, the father of slain 18-year-old Michael Brown led a march in Ferguson, Mo., on Sunday after a crowd of hundreds observed 41/2 minutes of silence.

Those who gathered to commemorate Brown began their silence at 12:02 p.m., the time he was killed, for a length of time that symbolized the 41/2 hours that his body lay in the street after he was killed. Two doves were released at the end. Police largely remained away from the ceremony.

Michael Brown Sr. held hands with others to lead the march, which started at the site where his son, who was black and unarmed, was fatally shot by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014. A grand jury and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November, but the shooting touched off a national “Black Lives Matter” movement.

Pausing along the route at a permanent memorial for his son, Michael Brown Sr. said, “Miss you.”

He had thanked supporters before the march for not allowing what happened to his son to be “swept under the carpet.”

Later Sunday, a few hundred people turned out at Greater St. Mark Family Church in a ceremony to remember Brown, with his father joining other relatives sitting behind the pulpit.

Anthony Gray, one of the Brown family’s attorneys, said of the shooting, “You knew in your gut that it wasn’t right. And you knew what that officer did was unjustified.”

Michael Brown Sr. also led a parade involving several hundred people Saturday. He said his family still is grieving, but he believes his son’s legacy can be seen in the increased awareness of police shootings, and renewed skepticism when officers describe their side of events leading up to those shootings.

The anniversary also sparked renewed protests, though much smaller than those a year ago. A few hundred people gathered outside Ferguson police headquarters Saturday night, but despite some tense moments in which the crowd taunted police, no arrests were made.