Late Sunday evening, over 1,000 protesters staged a silent march followed by a sit-in at St. Louis University as part of a "weekend of resistance" called Ferguson October. The marchers shouted, "Indict, convict, put the killer cops in jail! The whole damn system is guilty as hell," referring to several deaths of young black men at the hands of white police officers.
Last week, an off-duty St. Louis cop killed Vonderrit Myers Jr., while almost two months before Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., prompting weeks of unrest and a federal civil rights probe into the town's police department.
The demonstrations began in the Shaw neighborhood and silently moved through the streets of St. Louis, until they reached the university.
The Washington Post's Wesley Lowery and Arielis R. Hernández report:
On SLU’s campus Monday morning, protest leaders addressed the crowd. They said their demonstration was about ending white supremacy and addressing systemic problems people face regardless of race.
“This is the real definition of resistance … this thing right here that we’re doing right now is not only a symbolism of what we can do when we stick together, this is … It’s the beginning in a change in our consciousness as a people, as a human race,” Dhoruba Shakur said.
They noted the significance of it being Columbus Day, calling him “the first looter” and saying they were “reclaiming” the college campus.
“I know this was a college a couple of hours ago, but as of right now this is our spot and we not going nowhere,” a protest leader said.
As of 2:45 am central time the sit-in continued.
Rapper and activist Tef Poe spoke at SLU: "This ain't your grandparents' civil rights movement... get off your ass and join us!"
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