ST. LOUIS _ About 100 protesters in Ferguson and downtown St. Louis gathered Thursday in solidarity with Minneapolis protesters amid national outrage over the death of an African American man in police custody on Monday.
In a widely viewed bystander video of the arrest, George Floyd can be seen and heard telling an arresting officer, identified as Derek Chauvin, that he can't breathe as the officer kneels on his neck to restrain him. Police later announced Floyd had died.
The four officers involved in the arrest were fired the next day, but no charges have been filed. Protests took place in Minneapolis on Wednesday, with some turning violent, and continued on Thursday.
For some, the incident and protests evoked memories of the 2014 death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson.
Before the demonstration in Ferguson began about 6 p.m., about 30 protesters across the street from police headquarters were greeted by Ferguson police Chief Jason Armstrong.
Armstrong, who was not chief when Brown was killed by then-Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson, condemned Floyd's killing.
"Everybody who saw that video saw how horrifying it was to see that happen. If you have decency, if you have humanity about you, you should see that shouldn't have happened," Armstrong said. "It's critical to get it right. I know people are wanting charges to be filed immediately and right away, but I would much rather the investigation be done right and the case be solid as opposed to rushing through it and presenting a case that is not rock-solid."
Several law enforcement officials and groups across the country have condemned Floyd's killing, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called on the county prosecutor to criminally charge Chauvin.
In St. Louis, about 50 protesters calling for justice gathered at police headquarters downtown. Several people banged on the door of the headquarters and eventually marched down Washington Avenue, briefly stopping at the Tucker Avenue intersection, where violent protests ignited in 2017 after the not guilty verdict of former Officer Jason Stockley in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith.
As a group walked south on Memorial Drive, a few people grabbed nearby cones and placed them near an exit ramp for Interstate 44. When a white SUV drove near the cones a few moments later, it swerved and hit its brakes to avoid the cones and protesters, and another car hit the SUV from behind. No one in either car appeared to be injured.
Some attended protests in both Ferguson and downtown St. Louis. Protesters in Ferguson were mostly white, while protesters in downtown St. Louis were majority black.
"They want us to be content with the way things are, and we are not," said Tauren Taylor, who led the downtown St. Louis protests. "It's time that we stop being nice."
As of 8:30 p.m. Thursday, no arrests had been made related to the protests. The groups began to disperse around 9 p.m.
