North Charleston, South Carolina:
Protests Demand Justice for Walter Scott—
"No more! No More!"
April 13, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Protests began right after the video came out showing the cold-blooded cop murder of Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina.
On Wednesday, April 8, protesters gathered outside North Charleston's City Hall. Traffic was blocked as people chanted, "No Justice, No Peace!" "Black lives matter!" "No more! No more!" One woman said, "We cannot sit still and be quiet anymore. This is our season to speak!" Others spoke out saying that the killing of Walter Scott cannot be seen as an isolated incident and talked about how the North Charleston police have a common practice of harassing Black people for all kinds of small things like broken brake lights--the kind of thing that Walter Scott was stopped for, leading to his murder. Some people held signs that read, "The whole world is watching" and "Back turned, don't shoot."
When the city's mayor held a press conference, it was repeatedly interrupted with chants of "No justice! No peace!" People called for the mayor to step down and then marched through the building chanting, "No Justice, No Peace! No Racist Police!"
At one intersection in Charleston, a small group stopped traffic, calling on people to join the struggle and singing "Which Side Are You On" and "Justice for Walter, Justice for Us All." One woman did a call and repeat with the crowd, crying out: "We have nothing to lose but our chains. It is our duty to fight for our freedom! It is our duty to win! We must love each other and support each other!"
On Friday, April 10, a large crowd of students rallied and marched through the College of Charleston campus to protest the murder of Walter Scott. The crowd was mainly Black students, but white students came out to protest as well. People chanted, "No Justice, No Peace, No Racist Police!" and "Hands Up, Don't Shoot!"
On April 8, students gathered to protest at the University of Mississippi. Walter Scott was a father figure to Ole Miss student and Rebel defensive lineman Fadol Brown. Students held a die-in, chanting "Black Lives Matter!" One student said, "This is important because it seems like the country is moving backwards with this kind of thing and we need to wake up people, it seems like people are sleeping to this kind of thing and we're not comfortable so nobody else should be comfortable."
The Charleston branch of the Black Lives Matter organization issued an ultimatum to the North Charleston City Hall on April 10, demanding an emergency meeting of the town's city council within 24 hours to discuss instances of racial profiling and discrimination by police officers. Black Lives Matter spokesperson Muhiyadin Debaha said that if negotiations and peaceful demonstrations do not bring about change and show that they have "people power," resistance will be the "only option" remaining.
The funeral for Walter Scott was held at a North Charleston church on Saturday, April 11. With the church filled with 400 people, hundreds of others stood outside in the rain to pay their respects and to express their sorrow and anger at the taking of Walter Scott's life by the police.
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