In the wake of
a grand jury decision clearing Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal Aug. 9 shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, politicians begged for patience and restraint.
With
protesters rallying across the nation Monday night, Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt urged a balance of "the rights of Americans to exercise their free speech alongside the rights of people to live peacefully and safely in their communities."
"I join Michael Brown's family in urging protestors to do so peacefully," he said,
The Washington Post reports.
His counterpart across the aisle, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, said she was "praying" for a peaceful response to the decision.
“There will be many people who are disappointed in today’s decision, even though it is a result of a deliberate legal process that’s being independently checked by Attorney General Eric Holder and the U.S. Justice Department,"
she said.
"While we await the conclusion of that independent investigation — and continue working together for solutions to systemic issues highlighted by this tragedy — I’m praying that the good people of St. Louis and local law enforcement will remain peaceful and respectful of one another.”
The state's Democratic representatives, Emanuel Cleaver and William Clay,
had written an op-ed piece for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last week warning a grand jury exoneration of Wilson would "only further convince African-Americans that they are still powerless victims of perpetual police misconduct and fair game for judicial mischief."
"Many in Ferguson will no doubt express their pain and angst publicly," they wrote. "They will raise their hands saying, hands up, don’t shoot. They will raise their voices. They will chant. They will preach. They will cry. Local law enforcement and leaders must not respond to anger with calls for silence, but with acknowledgement and empathy."
On Monday night, Cleaver tweeted that voters angered by the decision should make their voices heard at ballot box.
Civil rights icon Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis also took to social media to urge protesters to resist lashing out in violence, though Illinois Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky quickly voiced her disappointment.
“An indictment in this case would have prompted a trial in which all aspects of Michael Brown’s death would be carefully weighed and considered, and justice could have been served,” she said, The Washington Post reports.
Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine urged "authorities to respect the right of all people to express themselves during this understandably emotional time, as well as urge the people of Ferguson and the nation to respond peacefully and constructively."
"Going forward, it’s critically important that we do more as a nation to address the tense relationship between law enforcement and local communities that was prevalent well before this tragedy, particularly in communities of color," he said, The Post reports.
At the headquarters in Harlem of the National Action Network headed by the Rev. Al Sharpton, the reaction from a crowd of over 100 people included hisses, groans and a shout of “What?”
The New York Times reports.
Sharpton had served as an adviser to Brown’s family, and was at his group’s headquarters with the family of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man who died after he was placed in what appeared to be a choke hold by a New York City police officer. A grand jury is weighing evidence in that case, The Times notes.
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