Thursday's march in Ferguson for slain teenager Mike Brown began organized, peaceful, and without incident. It also included a somewhat surprising visit from a local man on his horse.
"All of a sudden, this horse just rode down the middle of the street. The man riding it stopped and got off the horse to spend a moment, where Mike was shot and killed," Jessica Lussenhop, managing editor of the Riverfront Times, who was covering it and spoke to Django, the rider.
"Whenever teenagers lose their lives I do a ride," he told Lussenhop, explaining that he started the sad ritual after losing a teenager in his family in a car accident. On his rides, he wears a T-shirt with the name of the deceased teen airbrushed on it. "He said he just pays his respects and goes home," Lussenhop said.
Asked about the mood in Ferguson after Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson took over securing the streets, Lussenhop said: "The sun hasn’t set, that seems to be the Litmus test. But, so far, yeah it does feel different. It feels almost jubilant. Police are not stopping people doing what they want to do and that makes people feel happy, I guess."
IN-DEPTH
- Effort of Love: Cities Across U.S. Hold Vigils for Michael Brown
- Marchers Embrace Highway Patrol Captain
- Racial Tensions Hung Over Ferguson Long Before Teen's Shooting
-Maria Elena Fernandez