ST. LOUIS Justice was a recurring theme as thousands of mourners packed the mammoth Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church on Monday for the funeral of Michael Brown, a black teen whose fatal shooting following a confrontation with a white police officer set off weeks of sometimes violent protests.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, among the speakers
, called for a "fair and impartial investigation" into the shooting.
"We are not anti police, we respect police," Sharpton said. "But those police that are wrong need to be dealt with just like those in our community who are wrong need to be dealt with."
Family members of slain teenager Michael Brown touch the vault containing his casket during his funeral on Aug. 25 in Normandy, Mo. Hundreds of people attended Brown's funeral. The teen was shot and killed by a Ferguson, Mo., police officer on Aug. 9. Louis Post Dispatch, via AP" (Photo: Robert Cohen, St. Louis Post Dispatch, via AP)
Benjamin Crump, a lawyer representing Brown's family, alluded to the "three fifths" clause in the Constitution for counting slaves (which actually was an anti slavery clause) and demanded that Brown get "full justice, not three fifths justice."
Brown's body was being laid to rest, but the controversy surrounding the Aug. 9 shooting was far from over. Prosecutors have not determined whether the Ferguson police officer, 28 year old Darren Wilson, will face charges in Brown's death.
The service began with energy, including songs from a church choir and Scripture readings. The line from Scripture: "If God be for us, who can be against us?" drew loud applause.
Several family members shared stories of Brown, telling how the 18 year old had promised to make something of himself.
Michael "stated to the family that one day the world would know his name. He did not know he was offering up a divine prophecy," Brown's cousin
, Eric Davis, told the crowd. "But we are here today remembering the name of Michael Brown."
Davis encouraged people to express their anger at the polls.
"Every time change has come, it's come through the youth and the young generation," Davis said. "This generation is saying we have had enough of this senseless killing. We have had enough of this."
Michael Brown's step mother, Cal Brown, said Michael shared similar memories. "Mike Mike," as he was called, had promised to "shake the world."
She said he had been dreaming of death and bloody sheets just days before he died.
"He pretty much prophesied his own death and didn't realize it," she said. "Mike Mike is an awesome man. He just wanted to go to college. He wanted to have a family . but God had different plans."
Michael Brown Sr., listened intently as his 1 year old daughter, Mi Kelle Brown Michael's sister slept in his arms. Michael Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, stared straight ahead, sometimes bobbing her head in agreement with the speakers.
Brown Sr. had urged supporters not to protest Monday out of respect for his son. Sharpton also discouraged violent protest, saying anyone involved in such activity must do so in their own name, not Michael Brown's name.
The request was a hard sell outside the church, where members of the New Black Panther Party and Panthers for Justice started brief "Black Power" chants, fists punching the air.
Bila Mohammad, of Panthers for Justice
replica breitling Bentley 6.75, said he wished Michael Brown's family hadn't discouraged protests. "This is the day," he said. "The community needs to come together
, in a non violent way."
He added: "There will be more protests . In the words of Malcolm X, 'When you tell your people to put their guns down, we'll put ours down, too."
Earlier, mourners began lining up under a blistering sun more than three hours before the funeral.
An hour before the service's scheduled start, lines snaked around the corner and down a full city block on either side of the red brick church.
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