After the Ferguson decision, people are hurting around the country and the world. It’s hard for many to fathom that an 18-year-old can be killed by a policeman and no justice applied to the crime.
In the wake of the Ferguson, Missouri grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of Michael Brown, the city experienced both peaceful and destructive protests as business were burned to the ground.
Boogie D, the manager at St. Louis Radio One station 104.1, says the events in Ferguson have been heartbreaking for the entire region.
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“We’re hurt,” Boogie says. “Last night, a lot of people could not understand or rationalize the jury’s decision. 61 people were arrested, a lot of businesses burned a lot of businesses affected but the only good thing I can report is no loss of life. Throughout all the news reports, no one lost their life last night. I take that as a positive.”
Business including a car dealership, an Auto Zone, a collectibles store and up to 7 other business in and around the Ferguson area burned either partially or to the ground. Boogie says the destruction is reflective of the anger residents feel.
“They don’t understand how the grand jury didn’t no bill Officer Wilson,” Boogie says. There’s a lot of raw emotion, at lot of anger and a lot of sadness. That’s what I could sum up from what we heard last night on the radio.”
Boogie says that outreach has been done and that he feels that despite the rage, there are some positive things happening on the ground.
“A conversation has been started. And this is a movement. And the movement needs to continue. A lot of things are beginning to happen out of this conversation. So I do believe that the message is well-received and has been well recieved and action steps have been taken. Everything that happened here last night happened in St. Louis County, that’s where Ferguson is.
People in the city here have gotten involved in a lot of conversations about how things need to change with policing and how they deal with the community. So I would say that conversation has definitely started and people are getting their voices heard but last night took us a step back.”
The timing of the release of the grand jury investigation has been questioned, something Boogie says people wondered about as well.
“When I heard it was going to happen at 8, I was more optimistic that Officer Wilson was indicted. Cause that didn’t make any sense to me giving people all day to prepare and then you hit them with a slegehammer saying ‘no bill.’”
Boogie says that St. Louis and Ferguson could use nationwide support.
“Come to St. Louis, help us get this conversation we need to have in front of the people and help us to effect change. There is real work that needs to be done and we need help to do it.”
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