A group of anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian protesters morphed into supporters of slain Missouri teen Michael Brown in New York’s Sara D. Roosevelt Park Wednesday evening as #HandsUp, #TurnUp protests spread outside the St. Louis, Missouri, area.
A group of protesters went from pro-Palestinian marchers to critics of the police in Ferguson, Missouri, Wednesday, chanting “Please don’t shoot me dead! I got my hands on my head!”
Saying they were marching to “show solidarity with Ferguson,” the group verbally attacked police and claimed common cause with protesters in Ferguson.
“The police are an occupying force in New York City!” one protester said through a megaphone. “The police are an occupying force in Ferguson!”
The small group also chanted, “No justice, no peace! F*ck the police.”
One speaker oddly said, “Just because the police have been around for about 100 to 200 years doesn’t mean they’ll be around here forever.”
But his anti-American theme became clearer as he went on to say, “We need to let everybody we know who still believes that the police are there to protect them and not property that capitalism and racism are joined at the hip. They have a birthday, and they have a deadline.”
This wasn’t the only group of New Yorkers who invoked Ferguson this week. Also on Wednesday the family of slain teen Ramarley Graham and supporters gathered outside the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York City and led a rally, with their hands in the air and chanting “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” emulating protests in Ferguson.
Ramarley Graham was killed nearly three years ago by a New York police officer, but the DOJ has since said it has looked into the incident and after a review of the evidence, no charges could be brought against the city or the officer involved.
New York isn’t the only place outside the St. Louis area where protests have occurred. Earlier in the week several hundred gathered in Chicago’s Daley Plaza to show support for the people of Ferguson.
Chicagoans chanted such phrases as “black lives matter” and “no justice, no peace” as they marched in the Windy City.
Chicago’s left-wing activist Catholic priest, Father Michael Pfleger, also commented on the issue by raising fears that the situation in Ferguson could spread.
“What happened in Ferguson could happen in Chicago; it could happen anywhere,” Pfleger said on Sunday. “My anger about Ferguson is… the way that police handled it right afterwards, the cloak of silence about the officer.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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