After midnight had struck and another Christmas had passed, activists and protesters in and around Ferguson got word that a memorial in honor of slain teenager Michael Brown had been run over by a car and basically destroyed. Though it was late at night and cold, and many had spent a long day with family and friends celebrating Christmas, a group of activists made their way to Canfield Drive to get to work rebuilding the memorial that had stood since Brown was shot and killed by former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in August.
There are actually two memorials to Brown on Canfield Drive. One memorial, which had remained intact since August and was the one damaged early Friday morning, is built on the spot where Brown’s dead body laid for 4-1/2 hours. Another memorial is on the side of the street at a light pole. That memorial was rebuilt after a fire destroyed most of it in September. In both cases, local residents and protesters feel the memorials were deliberately destroyed.
Just before 2 AM local time Friday, word started to spread on Twitter that a car had driven right through the heart of the display. After a couple of activists had arrived on the scene, they sent pictures of the destroyed memorial and asked for assistance to help restore it.
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911 distress the mike Brown memorial is destroyed agian we need people down here in canfeild
— Josh (@therealjosh95) December 26, 2014
Just got to #MikeBrown memorial and it’s been ran over. Someone who saw it on video said it was intentional. pic.twitter.com/UlR2TGSxCS
— Justin (@jay_myles2) December 26, 2014
— Josh (@therealjosh95) December 26, 2014
After the pictures were posted, a couple of well-known protest leaders with heavy Twitter followings then put the message on blast to help get people to the memorial ASAP to help repair it.
There’s now a call for protestors to come to Canfield ASAP to help rebuild the memorial. #Ferguson
— deray mckesson (@deray) December 26, 2014
The street memorial. gone. #Ferguson thanks @jay_myles2 for the photo. pic.twitter.com/ZWlRmJRL1k
— ShordeeDooWhop (@Nettaaaaaaaa) December 26, 2014
With a decent number of protesters, mourners and activists on the scene, the clean up and restoration happened swiftly. Using both new materials and undamaged pieces of the destroyed memorial, the display was completely restored by roughly 4 AM local time.
Rebuilt. #Ferguson #MikeBrown http://t.co/JLpeREWgnb pic.twitter.com/hFx7fQOInC
— ShordeeDooWhop (@Nettaaaaaaaa) December 26, 2014
Rebuilt memorial. Canfield. #ferguson https://t.co/G0bPn7IVlZ
— deray mckesson (@deray) December 26, 2014
@jay_myles2: Just a few hours later- a whole new memorial is done. Love is triumphing over here. #MikeBrown #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/3UWgU0RD9v
— Justin (@jay_myles2) December 26, 2014
It has been a busy past few days for the local activist community. Late Tuesday night, an 18-year-old black male was shot and killed by a white police officer in a gas station parking lot less than three miles from where Brown was killed. While surveillance video was released apparently showing the deceased pointing a gun at the officer, and a gun was retrieved at the scene, local residents and protesters have been hesitant to fully accept the story from police and elected officials. Protests took place both Tuesday and Wednesday and more are expected in the coming days.
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).
