Students stage a die-in at the Student Union during the lunch hour on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014 in response to recent alleged acts of police brutality. (Phillip Waller | The Ole Miss)
Clutching posters that read “#BlackLivesMatter” and “#Support,” around 40 students at The University of Mississippi staged a peaceful demonstration Thursday afternoon in response to a grand jury’s decision not to indict the Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who fatally shot unarmed teenager Michael Brown.
Demonstrators discreetly entered the student union, formed a single file line dividing the food court and seating area and proceeded to lie on the floor in unison for four minutes and 30 seconds, signifying the time Brown’s body was in the Ferguson street – 4 hours and 30 minutes.
The protest, which was organized by senior economics major Derrick Martin and sponsored by the university’s National Pan-Hellenic Council, is the most recent in a national series of similar “die-in” demonstrations.
“This is not just about Mike Brown or just about Ferguson,” Martin explained. “This is about racism, and it’s also about violence and police brutality. These are things that exist in this country. These are things that cannot be taken lightly. It doesn’t matter who’s doing it to who or what race they are.”
Despite the enormous lunchtime crowd and baffled looks from bystanders, the group of students remained resolute on the union floor. Martin said no one tried to interfere with or oppose the protest.
“I saw people who were in their minds thinking, ‘Do I want to go lay down, too, or sit and take pictures?,’” said Joe Curry, participant in the demonstration and president of the university’s National Pan-Hellenic Council. “You saw temptation. You saw confusion. You saw a lot of light bulbs flickering on like, ‘Oh, so that’s what’s going on.’”
Curry said as on-looking students approached the crowd, many made annoyed remarks; however, some students expressed their support of the protest and joined in.
“There wasn’t really any type of embarrassment about it,” Curry said. “It was more of a feeling of strength and confidence and power laying on the ground with people of different races than my own who still share the same beliefs.”
Mason Herman, an eyewitness of the demonstration, said he respected the peacefully organized event.
“Everybody has an opinion,” Herman said. “Some people have done protests in other ways, but at least they’re standing up for their own personal beliefs. It wasn’t a violent way to do it. It was a peaceful protest. If they were trying to get people to stop and see what they were doing, it worked. It’s just good to see that some people stand for something.”
This is the second protest to occur at the university regarding the Ferguson ruling since it was announced last week. Wednesday, the university’s chapter of the NAACP assembled a peaceful demonstration around the bronze James Meredith statue behind the Lyceum.
“I hope (the demonstration) kind of shed light to situation and let people know that there are people (at The University of Mississippi) that care about what’s been going on lately,” Martin said. “I think people kind of had an understanding, but they definitely had a better understanding after today.”
