ST LOUIS, MO, August 24 (RIA Novosti) - The protesters rallying against the police killing of an unarmed African-American teen in Ferguson, Missouri, undermined their cause with looting and mayhem, an activist at a pro-police demonstration in St Louis told RIA Novosti Saturday.
“The people who are cheering on Michael Brown disown their own cause by the looting, pillaging, burning of buildings, chaos and rioting – that isn’t the way to go about protesting, you've got to do it peaceful,” said Jeremy Arnold, 28, a security guard from a neighboring state.
“Michael Brown was 6’4” and 300 pounds, he’s already a weapon. When somebody that big is beating on you, he could very well kill you. When they go for your gun, they might as well have a gun. Officer Wilson was just doing his job, it was a totally justified use of force,” he said.
The supporters of Darren Wilson, 28, the white policeman who killed an unarmed African-American teen and sparked a wave of protests, rallied in St Louis on Saturday as online donations for the law enforcement officer topped $300,000.
Ferguson, a mostly African-American suburb of St Louis with some 21,000 residents, has been shaken by often violent protests since Wilson shot and killed Brown, an unarmed teen walking with a friend on a leafy backstreet on the afternoon of August 9.
The grand jury of three African-American and nine white members began the hearing of evidence on the shooting Wednesday and is expected to decide on the possible charges against Wilson by mid-October. The inquiry hinges on whether Wilson fired in self-defense.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon withdrew National Guard troops on Thursday as protests calmed in recent nights. Police have been criticized for using military tactics, toting assault rifles and using tear gas, rubber bullets and other heavy-handed measures.
