ST. LOUIS, MO, August 25 (RIA Novosti) - A 21-year-old dreadlocked African-American man in St. Louis, Missouri, fears for his safety in the wake of the police shooting of an unarmed African-American teenager in a downtrodden suburb, he told RIA Novosti.
“It makes me fear for myself because the same thing could happen to me,” said Marshaun Williams, 21, on the sidelines of a pro-peace festival in the city on Sunday.
“I’ve been hassled by police. But I feel like I do know what to do. Surrender. Don’t make eye contact, keep your head down,” he said.
Ferguson, a mostly African-American suburb of St. Louis with some 21,000 residents, has been shaken by often violent protests since police officer Darren Wilson shot dead Michael Brown, an unarmed teen walking with a friend on a leafy backstreet on the afternoon of August 9.
Brown’s mother was set to appear alongside the parents of Trayvon Martin, a Florida teenager shot dead in 2012, at Peace Fest 2014, a music event encouraging peace over violence, in St. Louis' largest park, which was arranged before the killing.
“It’s good that Trayvon’s family are coming because they know what it’s like to lose a child to a gunshot that didn’t have to happen,” Williams said.
“Between Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown, I would say that America still has a lot of race issues to deal with,” he added.
The grand jury began the hearing of evidence on the shooting Wednesday and is expected to decide on the possible charges against Wilson by mid-October. The inquiry hinges on whether Wilson fired in self-defense.
Missouri National Guard troops have begun withdrawing as protests have calmed in recent nights. Police have been criticized for using military tactics, toting assault rifles and using tear gas, rubber bullets and other heavy-handed measures.
