Protesters unite in Iowa City in support of Ferguson

IOWA CITY - When Tayo Ajose goes into a store, she's careful to hold the item she wants to buy prominently in front of her body. The University of Iowa junior doesn't want store clerks to think, because she's black, she's trying to steal something.

It's worse for her brothers, who have been greeted with fear just because they're black men, Ajose said.

'There is implicit racism,” said Ajose, a Mechanicsville native studying biomedical engineering.

Ajose was among more than 200 people gathered Tuesday evening in Iowa City. They were protesting a Ferguson, Mo., grand jury's decision Monday not to indict a police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, 18, Aug. 9 in the St. Louis suburb.

The crowd, wearing stocking caps and scarves against the cold, chanted on the UI Pentacrest before marching down city streets to the City Hall, at one point blocking traffic. Mittened hands thrust upward as people called out 'Hands up, don't shoot” and 'Hey hey, ho, ho, these racist cops have got to go.” Store and restaurant employees looked out their windows at the passing throng.

Like similar protests in Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington, D.C., the Iowa City event was intended to show solidarity with Ferguson residents.

Students at Grinnell College also planned a protest for 5 p.m. Tuesday in Grinnell.

Nick Brown, a visiting UI professor in American studies, said he came out to the Iowa City protest to listen to the feelings of black residents and lend his support. Michael Brown's death is a recent example of black men facing disproportionate police contact and violence, he said.

'I see this as a pattern of black youth, particularly black males, being killed by police,” Nick Brown said.

Blacks make up about 17 percent of Iowa's prison population, compared to the 3.3 percent of the state overall.

'When they get out of prison, they are faced with a life sentence,” Carolyn Porter Henderson, of Iowa City, said at Tuesday night's rally. 'They can't acquire a job because they have a background. They can't vote because they have a felony. It's the new Jim Crow.”

Several people at the event spoke in support of the Iowa City Police Department. Ajose said she's never had a negative interaction with police here.

Jerry Bokassa, of Iowa City, angered some protesters with his sign that said 'I support Iowa City Police. Ferguson rocks!” He said Michael Brown's actions led to the shooting.

'He should have been at home instead of robbing that place of stupid cigars,” Bokassa said.

New details about what led to the Ferguson shooting and what happened during the incident emerged Tuesday, when the grand jury released dozens of documents.

Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson and Brown were in a scuffle after Wilson stopped Brown and a friend walking down a Ferguson street. Wilson shot Brown six times. Witness reports varied about whether Brown had his hands raised in a sign of surrender or was moving toward Wilson when the fatal shots were fired.

Wilson could still face federal charges or a lawsuit.