Student-led protest over Missouri shooting

About 200 people took part in a march today from Beinecke Plaza to the Green to protest the killing of Michael Brown by a police officer last week in Ferguson, Missouri. After reading a statement about the case, the group, holding signs reading “HANDS UP DON’T SHOOT” or with the names of people who have been killed by police officers, marched silently down Wall and Temple Streets to the Green

Henry Chapman ’15MFA, a second-year painting student at the School of Art, organized the protest with some fellow students. “Yale is one of the many places we should be having this conversation,” Chapman told reporters before the march began.

Members of the group handed out flyers with the following statement:

“It is unacceptable to presume threat based on race, age, perceived gender or appearance otherwise.

“It is unacceptable for authorities to abuse the rights of individuals and prevent them from participating in and being protected by the democratic process.

“It is unacceptable that structural racism, despite the recent efforts of the State Police and the continual good-will effort to ‘heal,’ remain unchallenged.

“It is unacceptable to manipulate the narrative in order to vilify the victims.”

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The Yale Alumni Magazine is published by Yale Alumni Publications Inc., an alumni-based nonprofit that is not run by Yale University. Its content does not necessarily reflect the views of the university administration.