San Diego man arrested in Ferguson
A San Diego man was among those arrested in the violent aftermath of a deadly officer-involved shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. Tuesday, a local connection is revealed to a story capturing the nation’s attention. Authorities say 31 people were arrested Monday night during the protesting, many of them from outside communities and even other states. Monday night, San Diego resident Lorenz Parker was arrested for ‘failing to disperse’.
In a note entitled “Why I am Marching” on his Facebook page written Saturday, Parker said he felt compelled by his own experiences to get involved and help. He wrote:
“I’ve mentioned before, how three officers saved my life. I’d had a seizure, and fought them like a man possessed. At the end, I was not only alive, but I hardly looked like a man who’d been on the receiving end of 600lbs of Justice. They didn’t taze me, or even rough me up that badly. I had some scrapes, but didn’t even need band-aids. In a country where young men of color are being shot for walking while unarmed, I find it disgusting that other people aren’t treated as I was. It’s disgusting that a young man of color’s life is worth less than the career of the officer who murdered him. So if my life is worth so much more, than I’m gonna put it on the line, for justice. If marching with my fellow Americans will make the cops behave better: Good.
“If it doesn’t, and this turns ugly, I will give the police the same kindness they gave me. I will work to save lives and protect others. The only things I will throw at the cops are their own gas grenades, and poorly-sung taunts.
“It’s my job, as an aware person of epic whiteness, to use my privilege to benefit others. It’s a power I never wanted, and should not have. But I have it, and with Great Power, comes Great Responsibility.
“It’s not my job to take the strike of the clubs, it’s my job to stay the hand that swings it.
“WILL ANY OF YOU JOIN ME!?”
Meanwhile, local authorities say the peaceful protests in Ferguson are being hijacked by a small group of what he calls violent agitators.
“I am not going to let the criminals who have come out here from across this country, or live in this community, to define this neighborhood and define what we’re going to do to make it right,” stated Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Now, Lorenz Parker says he was just talking to local business owners with a group of protestors when he was arrested, and that he did not resist arrest.
