Posted on 09/23/2014 3:02:23 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A memorial dedicated to slain teenager Michael Brown was destroyed by a fire Tuesday morning. The memorial, made mostly of teddy bears and homemade signs, had been kept on the side of the street feet from where Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th. Another memorial, located in the middle of Canfield Drive at the exact spot where Brown’s slain body laid for four hours, remains intact.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this point. The town’s fire department was called to the scene at 6:45 AM local time to respond to a fire on Canfield Drive. When they arrived, they saw a somewhat large fire where the memorial had once stood. Resident and visitors had added to the memorial over the past few weeks. By the time the fire occurred Tuesday morning, hundreds of stuffed animals, cards, flowers, signs and balloons had become part of the display.
Below is a picture I took weeks ago of the memorial. It had since grown in size.
Residents in the immediate area are suspicious and feel that the blaze could have been set intentionally. They are also upset that Ferguson police arrived on the scene before firefighters and just stood around the memorial and watched it burn. Piaget Crenshaw, one of the key witnesses to Brown’s shooting who lives on Canfield, shot the following video of the memorial burning and posted it to Facebook.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Piaget Crenshaw
7,442 followers · 9 hrs · ..
police watched mike brown memorial burn
t is very possible that the fire was accidental. Most evenings, candles were lit and left at both memorials. Reporters on the scene posted pictures showing the remnants of candles in the charred remains. Laura Hettiger of KMOV posted a few tweets from the scene Tuesday morning.
Laura Hettiger KMOV @LauraKHettiger Follow #BREAKING witnesses saying someone caught #MikeBrown
memorial on fire, but candles all over area @kmov #Ferguson
7:11 AM - 23 Sep 2014
110 Retweets 25 favorites
Laura Hettiger KMOV @LauraKHettiger
Before and after of fire at #MikeBrown memorial on Canfield
Drive @kmov #Ferguson
7:21 AM - 23 Sep 2014
604 Retweets 80 favorites
Laura Hettiger KMOV @LauraKHettiger
We counted at least 10 tea candles at #MikeBrown teddy bear
memorial on Canfield. No injuries @kmov #Ferguson
7:26 AM - 23 Sep 2014
It is totally understandable for area residents to be overly suspicious of the police at this point. Besides the ongoing issues that have been well-documented, even before Brown’s shooting, hundreds of Ferguson residents attended two closed-door meetings with the Department of Justice at a local church Monday evening. The meetings were not open to the media or non-residents and allowed residents to openly discuss their opinions and grievances with the local police department and government. It is possible that some residents feel the fire is retribution for the meetings and the continued civil rights investigation by the DoJ into the town’s police department. Shortly after the fire was put out Tuesday morning, people started rebuilding the memorial.
Paul Hampel @phampel
#Ferguson Two memorials here. One burned. That one is being
rebuilt.
9:51 AM - 23 Sep 2014 Ferguson, MO, United States
17 Retweets 5 favorites
At the same time, residents were gathering evidence at the scene to verify if gasoline was used.
Paul Hampel @phampel
#Ferguson Man collecting cinders. "We need evidence that
gasoline was poured here and this was deliberately set."
11:08 AM - 23 Sep 2014 Ferguson, MO, United States
141 Retweets 50 favorites
56 Retweets 21 favorites
A few hours after the blaze was put out, a large group of protesters was on the scene. Besides rebuilding the memorial, they were chanting “no justice! No peace” and “we are Mike Brown!” with their hands in the air.
Theres nothing funny about someone losing their life, but this whole thing has devolved into something like a comic farce.
I don’t see the ‘Gentle’ Giant as a teddy bear kind of guy.
If they lose their life assaulting a man with a gun during or soon after committing other crimes (Michael Brown or Trayvon Martin) I tend not to sympathize with them, no matter their age. I guess we’ll have to get by without two more rap artists.
I will differ.
Sometimes there is irony in death. When someone reaps exactly what they sowed.
And for thousands of years it has offered some solace when the brutal get theirs.
At best an unlawful trash fire.
Whitey did it!
Personally, I need to resist the urge to make jokes regarding this memorial blaze and Mike's friends reaction to it.
I'll make a wild-eyed guess that it involved a combination of fuel, oxygen, and heat.
I call accident first. False flag second.
And intentional, by some "racist" white person?
No way.
Did it go up like a pack of Swisher Sweets in the smoky backroom of the DNC?
Why so blunt, Grace?
Oh you "NEED evidence", huh?
That would have to be the STUPIDEST arsonist who would pour gasoline all over a bunch of lit candles.
If there truly is an “arsonist” I’d start my search by looking at him and his friends.
I see what you did.
[ Why so blunt, Grace? ]
Not my fault you don’t have a sense of Humidor...
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