A memorial dedicated to slain teenager Michael Brown was destroyed by a fire Tuesday morning. The memorial, made mostly of teddy bears and homemade signs, had been kept on the side of the street feet from where Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th. Another memorial, located in the middle of Canfield Drive at the exact spot where Brown’s slain body laid for four hours, remains intact.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this point. The town’s fire department was called to the scene at 6:45 AM local time to respond to a fire on Canfield Drive. When they arrived, they saw a somewhat large fire where the memorial had once stood. Resident and visitors had added to the memorial over the past few weeks. By the time the fire occurred Tuesday morning, hundreds of stuffed animals, cards, flowers, signs and balloons had become part of the display.
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Below is a picture I took weeks ago of the memorial. It had since grown in size.
Residents in the immediate area are suspicious and feel that the blaze could have been set intentionally. They are also upset that Ferguson police arrived on the scene before firefighters and just stood around the memorial and watched it burn. Piaget Crenshaw, one of the key witnesses to Brown’s shooting who lives on Canfield, shot the following video of the memorial burning and posted it to Facebook.
It is very possible that the fire was accidental. Most evenings, candles were lit and left at both memorials. Reporters on the scene posted pictures showing the remnants of candles in the charred remains. Laura Hettiger of KMOV posted a few tweets from the scene Tuesday morning.
#BREAKING witnesses saying someone caught #MikeBrown memorial on fire, but candles all over area @kmov #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/o7HSth57hv
— Laura Hettiger KMOV (@LauraKHettiger) September 23, 2014
Before and after of fire at #MikeBrown memorial on Canfield Drive @kmov #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/RCyd3b57dh — Laura Hettiger KMOV (@LauraKHettiger) September 23, 2014
We counted at least 10 tea candles at #MikeBrown teddy bear memorial on Canfield. No injuries @kmov #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/E8xiqHdjX8
— Laura Hettiger KMOV (@LauraKHettiger) September 23, 2014
It is totally understandable for area residents to be overly suspicious of the police at this point. Besides the ongoing issues that have been well-documented, even before Brown’s shooting, hundreds of Ferguson residents attended two closed-door meetings with the Department of Justice at a local church Monday evening. The meetings were not open to the media or non-residents and allowed residents to openly discuss their opinions and grievances with the local police department and government. It is possible that some residents feel the fire is retribution for the meetings and the continued civil rights investigation by the DoJ into the town’s police department. Shortly after the fire was put out Tuesday morning, people started rebuilding the memorial.
#Ferguson Two memorials here. One burned. That one is being rebuilt. pic.twitter.com/39t8pBoHS0 — Paul Hampel (@phampel) September 23, 2014
At the same time, residents were gathering evidence at the scene to verify if gasoline was used.
#Ferguson Man collecting cinders. “We need evidence that gasoline was poured here and this was deliberately set.” pic.twitter.com/BYTSMcs2ei
— Paul Hampel (@phampel) September 23, 2014
A few hours after the blaze was extinguished, a large group of protesters was on the scene. Besides rebuilding the memorial, they were chanting “No justice! No peace” and “we are Mike Brown!” with their hands in the air.
Image courtesy of Riverfront Times
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
