Under Arrest In Ferguson

Editor’s note: This is the story of Carissa McGraw as told to Vickie Newton, Editor-in-Chief of TheVillageCelebration.

It never occurred to me I would spend a night in jail for standing along the street one evening not long after the tragic killing of Michael Brown. My need to be a part of the organized outrage started when I saw the pictures on Instagram of his body laid out in the street in his Ferguson, Missouri apartment complex. I was scared but motivated.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Michael Brown reminded me of the time police used mace on my oldest brother because they said he resisted arrest. He was on his way to work when they stopped him. According to them, he fit the description of a panhandler.

Four days after Officer Darren Wilson gunned down Michael, I decided to close my store for the day and join one of the marches. I knew I would be late so I went directly to the Canfield apartments where police were asking the crowd to disperse. It was close to 5 p.m.

An hour later, the police blocked West Florissant, the main street for the protests watched by the nation and the world. They threatened to arrest anyone who did not leave. I was standing along the side of the street…on the white line to be precise…when they closed it.

I remember the officers were in an armored truck. They turned it around. All the while the officer on the top of the truck kept his gun pointed at me.

In what seemed like low motion, they arrested me. They arrested a minister. And, they arrested a 67 year-old woman. They handcuffed me, tightened the cuffs, and ordered me to get in the paddy wagon.

When we arrived at the jail, I was booked. For the first time in my 26 years, I posed for a mug shot. The hours passed as my cellmates and I talked. St. Louis City Councilman Antonio French, a respected voice for justice and decency, had been assigned a cell in the same jail. All of us were temporarily sidelined for daring to go public with our criticism.

The next morning around 9:30, they began releasing us. I had not eaten, choosing an empty stomach over the Honeybun they offered. I had not slept, yet I was more awake than I had ever been.

My official release time was 10:30 a.m. My family was worried, including my nine year-old daughter who was still on summer vacation. My mother had called the police department and was told they could hold me for 24 hours. When she called again, she said the phone was off the hook.

Not everyone in my family is pleased with me. But, my 74 year-old uncle said, “I’m proud of you.” This is not an experience I could have predicted or would have chosen, but it has changed my life.

*Carissa McGraw is a former employee of TheVillageCelebration. She is also one of the plaintiffs in a $40-million dollar lawsuit against the Ferguson Police Department and St. Louis County police, alleging “wanton and excessive” police force.