St. Louis County Police announced the arrest of 20-year-old Jeffrey Williams on Sunday in connection with the shooting of two police officers.
The shooting took place on Thursday, after over 200 days of peaceful protest demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri against police brutality particularly following the death of slain teen Michael Brown.
We asked the Black Voices family what they thought the shooting and subsequent arrest of Williams could mean for the future of Ferguson protests and any impact it may have on the overall Black Lives Matter movement.
See what they had to say below.
Why does EVERY time one black person does something (allegedly) it applies to an entire race or movement? That white boy shot up an entire movie theater, did white people say "omg...what are we going to do about the movie scene? do we have to stop going to movies?"
We don't bare the burden of every black person in the world!!! There were over 200 days of peaceful protests; keep going! -- Mareo Hendrickson
It won't affect it at all staying strong and keeping it moving -- Jay Young-Bey
Criminals are not law abiding citizens!!! What does the Italian mafia have to do with law abiding Italian American's... Or the Irish mob or the Russian mob... Or the Triads and the Yakuza... Or the Mexican cartels have to do with people that follow the law... Stop putting black people in a box... If they are criminals then the police have a job to do... Black lives matter is not about defending criminals... Don't twist the narrative!!! Thank you. -- Charles Boulevard
Keep the Black Lives Matter movement ALIVE! This is only the beginning of a very positive movement! We must not stop! The time is now and we must continue to fight for fairness to Blacks who have been wronged by a system that was designed to keep us down! -- Diann Mitchell
Don’t stop just one bad apple keep movin. -- Sophia David Peterkin
Should have no real impact. Just some rogue behavior. -- Larry Jennings
I completed grad school with one of the founders of this group. Believe me...the shooting will not deter the movement. If anything it will strengthen the casuse for African American young men to exam their purpose in a society that fails to acknowledge BlackLivesMatter. Indeed, this movement need not exits if the reality did not exit. In truth, all lives does matter. I fined it sad that a stand has to be taken by one group for it to be recognized. Does anyone think about the Civil Rights Movement could see the BLM movement as a step back in time for African American young men. The difference as I see it is the kill first, explain later approach taken by police and those who support them no matter what. -- Karen Coad
No effect whatsoever. -- Raymond Smith
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
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