DETROIT – From New York City, to San Francisco, Chicago and in downtown Detroit, rallies and moments of silence were held across the country Thursday evening to remember the unarmed teenager who was shot and killed by a police officer in Missouri.
Some protests going on in the small town of Ferguson, Missouri, since the day 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed have been violent. But today those protests peacefully went nationwide.
Rallies led to a national moment of silence held at exactly 7:20 p.m. for Brown. The rallies were a call for justice and full investigation into what happened.
There is word now that the officer involved will be named Friday, which is also part of what many people were calling for.
A gathering took place at Hart Plaza Thursday night under the sculpture called Transcending, with people passionately protesting an incident and a problem they say transcends the borders of Ferguson, Missouri.
Chants filled the plaza.
"No justice, no peace," the rally-goers said. "We're sick and tired of it."
Protestors wore red clothes, symbolizing that we all bleed the same color.
"It's one thing to come to a rally, but somebody's got to leave the rally and say, 'The hell with racism,'" said rally organizer Whitney Syphax-Walker. "We can hold up signs and sing but until someone gets tired of the racial prejudice in America, we will not overcome."
They raised their hands, mimicking 18-year-old Brown, who witnesses said had his hands in the air when he was shot and killed by the Ferguson police officer.
"There's a level of frustration and despair that comes with seeing black and brown people being gunned down," said Chantay Leonard.
They read names of other victims and then held a moment of silence.
The protest went into the night as dozens marched through downtown Detroit, coming together with a central message.
"The overall message is we have value. Black life has value," Leonard said.
More than 90 cities participated in the moment of silence.