Nearly 50 held at protest over US shooting
AP October 14, 2014, 8:25 pm
Nearly 50 people have been arrested during a large rally in the Missouri city where protests have been continued unabated since an unarmed 18-year-old black man was fatally shot by a police officer.
Clergy members on Monday led several hundred people on a march, using a bullhorn to read the names of people killed by police across the US, marking the third straight day of recent protests in the St Louis suburb where Michael Brown was fatally shot on August 9 by a white police officer.
Tensions escalated last week when a white police officer in St Louis shot and killed 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers Jr, who police say shot at police before he was killed.
Ferguson Police spokesman Tim Zoll said about 42 people were arrested at the Ferguson Police Station. Six others were later arrested for failing to disperse after blocking a street.
Organisers of the four-day Ferguson October protests dubbed the day "Moral Monday" and committed acts of civil disobedience across the St Louis region.
Protesters also blocked the entrance to a major employer, held a loud rally inside St Louis City Hall, disrupted business at a Ferguson shopping centre and a Wal-Mart, and tried to crash a private fundraiser for a St Louis County executive candidate.
Among those arrested on a charge of disturbing the peace was scholar and civil rights activist Cornel West, police said. The former Princeton University professor has been in the St Louis area for a weekend of protests, speeches and workshops designed to call attention to anger over police treatment of minorities.
Pounding rain and tornado watches didn't deter the protesters who stayed outside the headquarters for nearly four hours, roughly the same amount of time that Brown's body was left in the street after he was shot. The protesters were met by about 40 officers in riot gear.
"My faith compels me to be here," said Bishop Wayne Smith of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. "I want to show solidarity, and call attention to the structural racism of St Louis."
Since Brown's death, three other fatal police shootings of black males have occurred in the St Louis area.
Myers died on Wednesday after a confrontation with a white St Louis officer, whose name has not been released. Police said the officer fired 17 rounds after Myers opened fire. Myers' parents say he was unarmed, and many speakers at a weekend rally echoed those doubts and raised concerns about racial profiling.
