Organizers this week are preparing for one of the largest series of demonstrations since Brown’s killing by a Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9. This weekend, in what’s being billed as a “Weekend of Resistance,” several thousand protesters from around the country are expected to arrive in Ferguson between Friday, Oct. 10 and Monday, Oct. 13 for daily rallies, marches and acts of civil disobedience.
Brown’s shooting sparked sporadic looting and spontaneous protests that drew thousands to the city’s streets in sometimes violent clashes with heavily-armed police. The efforts have since evolved into sustained, peaceful protests and a much more organized movement around clear goals and political ideals, not the least of which are calls for an arrest of Brown’s killer, officer Darren Wilson.
“The mobilization this weekend is our attempt to connect justice for Michael Brown with a budding national movement against police violence across the country,” said Mervyn Marcano, a spokesman for Ferguson October, a mobilization effort organized by Hands Up United, the Organization for Black Struggle and hundreds of other local and national groups. “We are hopeful that people will come here and be energized by the movement in Ferguson and take that work back into their cities across the country.”
