Protests, violence break out after memorial of Brown shooting

FERGUSON, Mo. — Gunfire broke out during a demonstration in Ferguson, Missouri, on the second anniversary of Michael Brown’s death, disrupting what had been a peaceful gathering Tuesday night.

Witnesses said a car sped through a group of protesters who were blocking a street during the demonstration marking two years since the unarmed black 18-year-old’s fatal shooting by a police officer. They said the car struck a young man so hard, he flew into the air. As the car drove away, shots were fired, they said.

“A lady came down and hit a protester — knocked the shoes off his feet,” said Sharon Cowan, who was at the scene.

The man appeared to be badly injured and was put into a private car to be taken to a hospital, she said.

“The protester flew in the air, and I started screaming,” said Heather De Mian, who frequently livestreams protests in the St. Louis area. “Then when the bullets flew, I started screaming some more.”

Lashell Eikerenkoetter, left, embraces Erica Lewis after a memorial ceremony for Michael Brown on Canfield Drive on Tuesday in Ferguson, Missouri. Tuesday marked the two year anniversary of Brown's fatal shooting by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. Brown's death sparked local protests that spread around the world and breathed live into the Black Lives Matter movement. A St. Louis County grand jury and an investigation by the Department of Justice found Wilson was justified in shooting Michael Brown.David Carson ~ St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP

Police responded to reports of gunfire but had found no evidence anyone had been struck, said Ferguson spokesman Jeff Small, who declined to speculate why the shots were fired.

Earlier, a few hundred people gathered for a memorial service and moment of silence along Canfield Drive at the spot where Brown was shot fatally by officer Darren Wilson after a confrontation on Aug. 9, 2014.

A state grand jury declined to press charges against Wilson, and the U.S. Justice Department cleared him, concluding he had acted in self-defense. He resigned in November 2014.

Brown’s death led to months of protests in Ferguson. It was a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement, which rebukes police treatment of minorities.

Brown’s father, also named Michael Brown, said in a speech at the memorial service the anniversary is a sad day for him and his family, but for the world.

“My son built families up, opened the eyes of the world and let them know this ain’t right,” he said. “This color is not a disease. This color is beautiful. Black is beautiful.”

The 2014 shooting also led to a Justice Department investigation that found patterns of racial bias in Ferguson’s police and municipal court system. The federal agency and the city agreed this year to make sweeping changes.

This month, more than 60 organizations affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement released a list of six demands and 40 recommendations for how to achieve policing and criminal-justice reforms.

Brandy Shields, 19, went to school with Brown and remembered him as a child who “never got into trouble.”

Shields comforted a little girl who was crying at the service.

“It’ll get better,” Shields told the child. “We have to make it better, but it’ll get better.”