Over the holiday weekend the white police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri resigned from the force; but that hasn’t calmed the outrage in cities across the country that he will not be indicted.
Here in Tampa, students at the University of South Florida are organizing a rally and march Tuesday at noon to fight against police brutality and to demonstrate in solidarity with protesters in Ferguson.
For a preview, WMNF News interviewed Danya Zituni, who is active with several student groups at USF including Students for Justice in Palestine, Amnesty International and Students for a Democratic Society.
“Tomorrow we are holding ‘USF students against police brutality demonstration in solidarity with Ferguson.’ The purpose is to stand in solidarity with the protesters of Ferguson against the systematic racially discriminatory treatment by law enforcement officials on a national level.”
If people go there tomorrow at noon in front of Cooper Hall at USF Tampa, what can they expect to see?
“We’re planning to have posters with slogans of support that we’ve seen across the nation at Ferguson solidarity protests, like ‘Black Lives Matter’ and so on. Also we will be marching from Cooper Hall to the Martin Luther King Plaza, to get students who are around the campus to notice and potentially join us.”
Why is this an issue that is of concern to you as a USF student and as a member of these groups; Amnesty International, Students for a Democratic Society and Students for Justice in Palestine?
“Well as student organizations who are against racism, we believe that it is impossible to be neutral in situations of injustice, and this is an issue that specifically affects all black communities on a national and local level. So we’ve decided to stand publically stand with the protesters of Ferguson in favor of justice.”
Finally, if people want to find out more where can they go?
“They can lookup USF’s Amnesty International on Facebook, we have a Facebook page and as well there is a page for the event tomorrow are on Amnesty International [at USF Facebook page].”
update: here’s video of the rally:
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