Politics

Ferguson Election Triples Number of Blacks on City Council

Published

10 years ago

April 8, 2015

Protestors block traffic outside the Ferguson, Mo., police department, Wednesday, March 4, 2015, in Ferguson. The Justice Department on Wednesday cleared a white former Ferguson police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old, but also issued a scathing report calling for sweeping changes in city law enforcement practices it called discriminatory and unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Protestors block traffic outside the Ferguson, Mo., police department, Wednesday, March 4, 2015, in Ferguson. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

JIM SALTER, Associated Press
JIM SUHR, Associated Press

FERGUSON, Missouri (AP) — Two black candidates have been elected to the Ferguson City Council, tripling African-American representation in the St. Louis suburb where poor race relations have been a focal point since a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black man.

It was the first municipal election since officer Darren Wilson fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9. The shooting sparked sometimes violent protests and spawned a national movement to press for change in how police deal with minorities.

The election means that half of the six-member city council will now be African-American in Ferguson, a town where two-thirds of the 21,000 residents are black. The lone black incumbent councilman was not up for re-election. The mayor, who could break any tie votes, is white.

Despite stormy weather, voter turnout increased substantially from the previous election following a strong get-out-the-vote effort. The town that drew only 12.3 percent of registered voters last April had 29.4 percent turnout Tuesday.

“This community came out in record numbers to make sure our voices were heard,” said councilman-elect Wesley Bell, one of the black candidates, calling the election part of a healing and rebuilding process.

A grand jury last year decided not to indict Wilson, a decision that stoked more protests.

The U.S. Justice Department also decided not to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November. But the department faulted the city for racial bias and profiling in the police department and a profit-driven municipal court system, prompting several city officials to resign.

The new city council will be tasked with approving hiring of their replacements.

Voting at the First Presbyterian Church of Ferguson, Charrolynn Washington said the election is where real change will begin.

“As much change is needed here in Ferguson, this is where we begin — not out there in the streets, doing what they were doing — but, right here,” Washington said. “They need to be voting and putting people in position to make the change and make the decisions that need to be made.”

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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3 days ago

June 7, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.