With the rest of the nation still reeling over a Missouri grand jury's decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson for shooting and killing unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9 and the ensuing Ferguson riots following Monday night's announcement, South Florida has been relatively quiet.
While other cities such as New York and Washington, D.C., held rallies following the announcement to support the Brown family and the city of Ferguson, Miami, Broward, and Palm Beach have remained on the sidelines.
But a local woman is looking to rally protesters to march in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday afternoon.
Fort Lauderdale resident Tara Cannon decided to organize the protest after seeing how quiet things had been down here following the grand jury's announcement.
"I was just going through Twitter last night and noticed no talk of any protests locally," Tara tells New Times. "I figured, it's so simple to give people a time and place to get together to show our solidarity with the city of Ferguson and our disapproval of the decision not to indict."
Protest in Fort Lauderdale Florida tomorrow 4pm starting at Riverwalk entrance and we'll be walking around town make signs RT #MichaelBrown
— Tara~ (@snoop_flower) November 25, 2014Cannon has tweeted out a call to anyone interested in getting together Tuesday afternoon to rally. She's so far received a handful of responses from people eager to join her in the peaceful protest.
Tara is asking anyone who wants to join to bring signs for the protest, which is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. at the Riverwalk entrance.
"We're starting at Riverwalk and then marching around town with signs showing our disapproval," she says.
Protest later at 4 in Fort Lauderdale Florida we're meeting at Riverwalk's entrance and marching around town #Ferguson #mikebrownverdict
— Tara~ (@snoop_flower) November 25, 2014The call to meet and protest appears to be the first in Fort Lauderdale since the St. Louis County prosecutor's office announced a grand jury's decision to not indict officer Wilson.
A protest was expected in West Palm on Monday evening, but that seemed to fizzle.
The City Center in West Palm Beach saw steady police presence throughout the night, in anticipation of a rally. But only three protesters showed up, much to the surprise of law enforcement.
Meanwhile, in Miami, there were no protests reported, though several protesters were arrested in Miami back in August following Brown's shooting.
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