Chanting 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot!' Detroit Pastors Demand Justice For Michael Brown
DETROIT (WWJ) - While mourners packed a St. Louis church to say final goodbyes to Michael Brown — in Detroit, local pastors held a demonstration demanding justice in the case.
Chanting, "Hands up, don't shoot!" the small, diverse group of clergy marched to the office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Barbara McQuade, to hand-deliver a letter for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Rev. Risarg Huff, who led the march, explained what's in the letter.
"It is really imploring him to do something about what happened in Ferguson," Huff told WWJ Newsradio 950's Vickie Thomas. "We know that he went down there; but we don't want him going down there just to sight-see. We want him going to make changes."
"We are really in support of Michael Brown and his family," Huff said. "We believe that police officers should be held accountable for his death," Huff said.
McQuade met with the group.
"Their concerns are the same that are shared by so many people we've been talking with — which are that people of color seem to get different treatment from police officers than white citizens, and that we need to make sure that we're doing something to address that issue," said McQuade, after speaking the pastors Monday.
The meeting took place on the same day that the federal government ended oversight of Detroit's police department.
"...Of course, we don't have a perfect police department," McQuade said. "Encounters with police and citizens can quickly turn tragic; so we want to make sure that that doesn't happen in Detroit."
Protests in Ferguson, Missouri over the killing of a black 18-year-old man by a white police officer have entered their third week — although the teen's father pleaded for a day of silence Monday while his son was laid to rest.
MORE: Detroit Man Arrested In Ferguson, Missouri During Protests
Police Chief James Craig 'Angry' About Implications Detroit Could Be 'The Next Ferguson'
Follow complete coverage of the situation in Ferguson on our sister site, CBS St. Louis.