- Wed Nov 05, 2014 7:17 pm
#49114
Members of the Don't Shoot Coalition said at a news conference that they want to advance notice once a grand jury decides whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, for the Aug. 9 shooting of Brown, who was black.
The coalition represents more than 50 organizations including union workers, anti-war activists and black empowerment groups. Its members are leaders of the protests that erupted across the region after Brown's death and have continued in the three months since.
"Everyone around the United States and much of the world is looking at St. Louis," said Michael McPhearson, they better get this one right or there will be hell to pay.
Ed Magee, a spokesman for St. Louis County Attorney Bob McCulloch, who is overseeing the grand jury investigation, met with McPhearson and attorney Denise Lieberman earlier Wednesday and said the coalition's request for 48 hours' notice of a grand jury decision is "being considered."
"After the verdict, no matter what it is, people are going to pour into the street - either in celebration or in rage," said Montague Simmons, chairman of the Organization for Black Struggle.
Organizers have created 19 "rules of engagement" the police must follow, including calls to treat protesters as "citizens and not enemy combatants."
