On the one-year anniversary of his son’s death, Michael Brown Sr. says he and his family are still mourning the loss of their son.
“I think of him every single day,” Brown told CNN.
At a parade Saturday, Michael Brown Sr. told about 200 people who had gathered on the street at Canfield Green apartments that the anniversary of his son’s death brings about grief and raw emotions but that they must continue to stand up for concerns about police brutality, reported the AP.
Brown then “took an armful of stuffed animals and placed them in the middle of the street where his son died,” reported the AP.
The death of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., last year at the hands of a white police officer triggered protests and a national conversation on race and policing.
Saturday’s parade is one of a series of events the Brown family’s nonprofit is using this weekend to commemorate their son’s death, according to St. Louis Today. Brown fed over 100 homeless people Friday, saying, “We just want to give back, show our love.”
The shelter’s operator, Rev. Larry Rice, called for a moment of silence “for the injustice that has taken place” before serving lunch.
“The entire world was impacted” by Michael Brown’s death “and will never forget his story,” says the family’s website announcing the weekend’s events. The events are meant to be peaceful and the theme of the weekend is “heal our city,” a spokesperson told St. Louis Today.
Brown’s death sparked looting and destruction in the St. Louis suburb, as well as the national “Black Lives Matter” movement.
While a grand jury ultimately cleared Officer Darren Wilson of any wrongdoing in Brown’s death, the Department of Justice found that the Ferguson police department “routinely violates the Constitution and federal law” due to “the combination of Ferguson’s focus on generating revenue over public safety” and was guilty of “racial bias” in policing.
