The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
August 15, 2014

More than 100 Cities Join Moment of Silence for Michael Brown 
--------------------------------------------------------------


 
More than 100 cities joined in a national moment of silence Thursday
night to honor the memory of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The unarmed
African-American teenager was shot to death by police last Saturday in
Ferguson, Missouri. Protests continued in Ferguson for a sixth night
with less tension after Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon put an African-American
highway patrol captain named Ron Johnson in charge of security in the
town of Ferguson. Johnson marched with protesters and ordered the riot
gear put away. Protests also spread to Los Angeles, to Chicago,
Philadelphia and St. Louis, where Brown's family attended a vigil, to
New Orleans, Houston and New York. In Miami, eight people with the group
Dream Defenders were arrested after refusing to leave a federal justice
building. Ahmad Abuznaid said police brutality is a problem across the
country.

Abu Abuznaid: "It's related to what's happening in Ferguson. I think
across the country we've seen police departments abuse their power, gun
down innocent, unarmed people. It's happened in Ferguson. It's happened
here in Miami with Israel 'Reefa' Hernandez just a year ago."

Israel Hernandez was an 18-year-old graffiti artist who died a year ago
last Sunday after police shocked him with a Taser.

 

.