“Indict, convict, send those killer cops to jail. The whole damn system is guilty as hell.”
This was just one of the chants echoed throughout campus Wednesday afternoon as about 200 students rallied to protest police brutality. The protest was part of a national day of resistance to demonstrate solidarity with those in Ferguson, Mo., Palestine and Hong Kong, among other places.
Many of the protestors came specifically to protest the investigation into the killing of Michael Brown, a black Ferguson teen shot by a white police officer in August. Members of the MSU Black Student Alliance, MSU Students United, the Graduate Employees Union and the North American Indigenous Student Organization, among other student groups, helped to stage the march and protest.
Protest co-organizer and East Lansing resident Crystal Gause said she visited Ferguson and learned from the protests there, but hopes the demands presented to the East Lansing Police Department can be resolved in peaceful ways.
Gause presented a list of demands to East Lansing Police Chief Juli Liebler. Gause demanded the department dispose of all military-grade weapons and armored vehicles, which are available to the department through Ingham County military surplus supplies.
Liebler addressed the crowd and said the department would look at the demands and provide a “thought-out” response.
Organizers warned Liebler if the demands weren’t met within a week, the protestors would be back.
Liebler said she had not yet read the demands when she addresses the crowd, and said one week would not be a fair timeline to respond to the demands.
Liebler said the group was welcome to come back next week for a peaceful protest. During Wednesday’s protest, police assisted in directing traffic throughout campus to make way for the march as it snaked from Beaumont Tower to East Lansing City Hall, where the police department is located.
President of MSU Black Student Alliance Rashad Timmons said in the interim, protestors will “have to stay hungry and motivated” and be ready to return.
Media and information junior Liza Marek said she came to the protest because she identifies closely with Michael Brown and the struggles people of color face.
“Black lives matter and I feel like we all need to be in solidarity, whether we’re in Ferguson or not,” Marek said. “When I think of Mike Brown, I think of my brother because my brother is close to his age and the same build. Take away the name and that’s my brother.”
Members of the community marched alongside students as well. MSU Students United member and alumnus Noah Saperstein said while the turnout was greater than expected, he had higher hopes.
“I’m enthusiastic about the student support we’ve received,” Saperstein said. “But unless we have the whole community, all 50 or 60,000 people out here, we will never have enough people.”
