The father of Michael Brown, the black teenager shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., last summer, is urging supporters to be calm ahead of an expected grand jury decision.
“My family and I are hurting. Our whole region is hurting. I thank you for lifting your voices to end racial profiling and police intimidation, but hurting others or destroying property is not the answer,” Michael Brown Sr. told supporters Thursday in a video message.
{mosads}“No matter what the grand jury decides, I do not want my son’s death to be in vain. I want it to lead to incredible change — positive change — change that makes the St. Louis region better for everyone,” he said.
A grand jury will hold what is expected to be its final session Friday on whether to indict Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in the Aug. 9 shooting death of Brown, 18.
Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), who represents the area around the St. Louis suburb, appeared Thursday night on CNN to call on police and potential protestors to remain calm and “not let tensions rise to the point of violence.”
“My message to the community is that this is not over. Let us calm down [and continue] pushing toward serving justice,” he said.
He added that “all of the signs point to no indictment.”
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon activated the National Guard on Monday after the FBI had warned that the jury decision “will likely” lead to some threats of violence or even attacks.
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) predicted Tuesday that a “miscarriage of Justice” in the case could result in “massive, nonviolent protests all over America.”
Clay, who accused the case’s special prosecutor of “dumping the evidence on the grand jury and not really prosecuting it,” noted the federal investigation is ongoing.
“I’m telling the community this process is not over,” Clay said, adding that Justice Department Attorney General Eric Holder “is not on the same timeline” and has ensured him of a “very thorough investigation.”
Clay said that the community and nation would have to “deal with the elephant in the room,” citing a “racial divide within the St. Louis community.”