Las Vegas reacts with calm discussion in wake of Ferguson announcement

Huddled around a smartphone hooked up to a portable speaker, Las Vegas community activists and residents listened to the announcement from Ferguson, Mo., on Monday night.

Some shook their heads in disbelief while others looked up to help fight back tears as the St. Louis County prosecutor announced the decision. After months of unrest and anticipation, a grand jury did not indict Police Officer Darren Wilson, who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager suspected of petty theft.

“I’m not really surprised, but there was a little piece of me that remained hopeful they would do the right thing,” said Laura Martin, communications director for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, which organized the gathering. “Here we are again. A police officer murders a person of color and it’s OK. When will they learn that black lives matter?”

Brown’s shooting on Aug. 9 prompted protests in the St. Louis suburb. The situation escalated when Ferguson police responded with armored vehicles, tear gas and sniper rifles. The incident cultivated a national discussion on race relations, police use of force and the militarization of law enforcement.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities across the nation Monday. In Ferguson, rioters set fire to police cars and stores.

But in Las Vegas the response was limited to about 30 Las Vegas activists, private citizens and police officers from the Metropolitan and North Las Vegas police departments who gathered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Statue in North Las Vegas to discuss the incident.

“It isn’t right,” one person shouted from the crowd. “He (the Ferguson officer) should have been held on something.”

Officers and community members linked arm in arm for four minutes of silence, as requested by the family of the slain teenager.

Capt. Matt McCarthy from Metro’s Office of Internal Oversight said law enforcement joined civic and community leaders for the decision in part to build a relationship between the two.

“We are not Ferguson,” he said. “We have heard Ferguson’s story for the last few weeks. But Las Vegas has a story too.”

He added that part of Las Vegas’ story is that officers are trying to work with the community.

“Here, we actually have police officers helping to set up our event,” Martin said. “Metro isn’t perfect by any means. But they are here tonight.”

Officers listened as audience members vented not only frustrations from the night but past experiences with local law enforcement.

“We might not be Ferguson,” said community activist Henry Thorns. “But we have similarities. Do we have to do our part as a community? Sure. But (police officers) need to do their part to root out corrupt and racist cops.”

This isn’t the first time leaders have gathered at the statue to talk about police brutality and race relations

Local activists last met here on Aug. 28 to memorialize Brown and others who have been shot and killed by police.

Three of those deaths were in Las Vegas: Trevon Cole, shot and killed in a botched drug raid in 2010; Stanley Gibson, an unarmed man shot in the head while in his car in 2011; and Erik Scott, who was fatally shot in 2010 after being seen with a gun and acting erratically in the Summerlin Costco store.

“And each time, we gather to talk about this,” Thorns said. “How many times do we have to do this?”

Dr. Tiffany Tyler, CEO of Nevada Partners, said it’s hard not to feel sad.

“I am a mother of two men,” she said. “It is easy to feel powerless or hopeless in this situation.”

She added her hope is that the community takes its feelings — whether in disappointment, outrage or anger — and channels it into action.

“We have to feel more than indignation,” she said. “We have to do more than talk about it. We have to show up and do something.”