Since this verdict, there have been demonstrations and rallies, both forceful and nonviolent, in response to the verdict.
On Thursday night, the cause came to Bloomington. Hundreds of community members gathered in front of Showalter Fountain to rally.
“How can we live and breathe in a world that allows murderers and killers to roam free?” said Robert Sherrell, member of the Black Student Union at IU.
The Black Student Union at IU organized the rally Thursday to voice its opinions and concerns about the verdict.
As a union, members said they believe the case showed no one is truly color blind in this country, even 50 years past the civil rights movement.
Though the union was only expecting up to 50 participants at the rally, Black Student Union representatives reported more than 600 people attended ready to voice their opinions in the peaceful ?protest.
Following the rally, the union led a march to the Indiana Memorial Union and had a four-minute “die-in” where participants laid down on the floor as if they were dead.
The four minutes of silence represented the four hours Michael Brown was left lying dead in the street.
Union Board, the student governing body of the Indiana Memorial Union, was having its regular meeting during this demonstration and ended early to join in the gathering.
“It’s peaceful,” said Cathy Deal, former national president of college Union Boards. “It’s meaningful. And it’s what we need. It’s an opportunity to come and express our needed opinions.”
Prior to the die-in, Black Student Union President Autumn Gonzalez spoke to the group and stressed the union is a nonviolent organization and would always comply with all laws and police force.
Following this, cheers of “no justice, no peace, no racist police,” filled the streets within the gates of campus.
The night ended at Morrison Hall for an open forum that allowed people to voice their opinions on racism and inequality that they find prevalent today. The lecture hall was filled over capacity and was only open to IU students and faculty to accommodate as many people as possible.
“This is not an IU problem. This is not an Indiana problem. This is not a nationwide problem. This is a world problem,” Sherrell said at the rally. “This movement is bigger than you and I.”
