A woman raises her hands during the funeral of Michael Brown inside Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church on Aug. 25 in St. Louis.(Photo: Pool photo)
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 in 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."
Benjamin Crump, a lawyer representing Brown's family, alluded to the "three-fifths" clause in the Constitution for counting slaves (which actually was not a pro-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 Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, 28, will face charges in Brown's death.
The service began with energy, including songs from a church choir and Scripture readings. The line from the Bible, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" drew loud applause.
Brown's casket was taken to St. Peter's Cemetery in a white horse-drawn carriage. As his casket was lowered, family members sobbed loudly. Brown's great-uncle Rev. Charles Ewing led the Lord's Prayer. Brown's father released a single white dove, followed later by the release of five more doves.
Ron Davis, father of Jordan Davis, 17, who was gunned down in a Jacksonville gas station two years ago, visited with Brown's parents.
"Don't use a shoot-first mentality," said Davis, a button with the photo of his son pinned to the lapel of his dark suit. "We have to start going around the country and having seminars with police departments."
At the funeral, several family members shared stories of Brown, telling how the 18-year-old had promised to make something of himself.
Brown "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 by voting. Brown was shot in Ferguson, Mo., where the population is two-thirds African American but the mayor and five of the six city council members are white. The 53-member police force has three African American officers.
"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 family sat at the front of the church as thousands of people who turned out for his funeral filed in, including several civil rights leaders and celebrities. (Aug. 25) AP
Michael Brown's stepmother, Cal Brown, shared memories of "Mike-Mike," as he was called. She said he had promised to "shake the world."
He told her 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, 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 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.'"
At the start of the day, mourners began lining up under a blistering sun more than three hours before the funeral.
When the church reached its 2,500-person capacity, police directed visitors to an adjacent auditorium that seats 1,000 people and was set up with giant screens. Soon that room also was overflowing. A 300-seat annex also filled quickly.
A few hundred visitors unable to get into the service milled around cordially outside. One woman passed out small green and purple ribbons that people pinned to their shirts. But anger simmered under the surface.
Quincy Harts, 40, of St. Louis, was outside the church wearing a T-shirt with Brown's picture and the words: "No Justice, No Peace."
He said he'll respect the family's wishes of no protests — for now.
"Ain't nobody too happy about this," Harts said. "You're going to see more protests until (Wilson) goes to jail."
Still, the atmosphere outside the church was subdued. Johnnie Shegog, 57, of St. Louis, knew Brown since he was 4 years old and has known the family for two decades.
"I'm hoping this day lifts us up, turns things around," she said. "Not just for St. Louis, but the entire nation."
Angela Jones-Peaks, 43, of nearby Jennings, asked her supervisor for a few hours off Monday morning to attend the service. Having two sons of her own motivated her to attend, she said.
"It's scary every time they leave home," Jones-Peaks said. "I wanted to support this family, let them know we're here for them."
Bacon reported from McLean, Va
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