Black LA Community Leaders Urge Peace, Federal Action After Ferguson Grand Jury Decision
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Leaders of the black community in Los Angeles called for calm Monday night amidst widespread reaction to the verdict out of Ferguson, Missouri.
Images circulated of violent reaction in Ferguson after a grand jury decision was announced not to charge officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, a black man, in August.
While Ferguson experienced looting, vandalism, and the burning of buildings, businesses and cars, protests began to gather in Los Angeles.
Black community leaders in LA gathered outside LAPD headquarters as protests began to grow in the city, urging peace, as well as for federal leaders to take action.
Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable says the grand jury was not given the full evidence in Brown's death, and called on the federal government to file criminal civil rights charges against Wilson.
The group anticipates posting a petition on change.org to the US Attorney General.
"We are not satisfied with what was presented here today," Dr. Hutchinson said. "We want to see more, and until we see everything, and satisfy that everything is there, then, and only then, can we say that justice was served."
The group expects to obtain about one million signatures to show the government that justice remains to be served.