Some members of the Black Lives Matter movement tried to profit off the death of Michael Brown, according to his father.
Michael Brown, Sr. reaffirmed his opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement while speaking at Chattanooga State Community college Wednesday, reports the Times Free Press.
While some members of the Black Lives Matter movement had good intentions, Brown Sr. said that he saw some of them try to gain from his son’s death.
“I call them thieves in the night,” Brown Sr. told those gathered.
White Officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown Aug. 9, 2014. Department of Justice officials, along with prosecutors, determined that despite that “hands up, don’t shoot” narrative, Brown tried to grab Wilson’s gun. Wilson shot after Brown tried to charge him.
Black Lives Matter demonstrators marched through the streets, chanting, “no justice, no peace” and, “hands up, don’t shoot.” Some of the protests turned violent, with police launching tear gas at protesters who refused to move. Rioters responded by throwing Molovtov cocktails at officers.
Brown Sr. also criticized the riots, saying that they took the focus off of the loss he and the community felt after losing Brown.
“And when people start rioting and doing all this other stuff they got off focus of the death of my son and started focusing on the negativity, so that overpowered the loss that we went through as far as parents and in the community,” Brown Sr. said, speaking at East Tennessee State University Tuesday.
Dantheman