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Southeast Students Band Together For Peaceful Protest

On Tuesday, Nov. 25, Southeast Missouri State University students held a peaceful protest in front of Kent Library following a grand jury’s decision to not indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

Immediately following the ruling, riots broke out in cities across the country. The group of protesters at Southeast chose to react peacefully.

The students stood together, chanted and held up signs that said “We are Mike Brown,” “No Justice. No Peace,” “Hands up. Don’t Shoot,” and “Pray for STL.”

Junior Devin Spears said they gathered to show that they can peacefully protest, voice their opinion and stand up for what is right.

“After last night when they did all of the rioting and things it kind of brought a negative light to the situation,” he said. “It kind of took away from what the actual issue was.”

Sterling McGill, a junior, agreed with Spears.

He said a peaceful protest allows them to get their message across without reacting emotionally.

The event was organized by junior Kimisha Robinson.

"I called for this protest because I felt like my people and the people from the St. Louis area were upset,” she said.

She wanted to give students an outlet and a place to express their anger and support each other.

"It's good that people are out here because it shows that they do care about their community,” Robinson said. “They care about themselves and the people around them. We want to make sure that we send out a message that we are not a violent people and that we deserve justice."

According to her it is important for students to get involved and be heard.

"We are the ones who will be the lawmakers, law-enforcers and people who have to abide by these rules sooner or later," she said.

She plans to continue protesting in the future.

Jessica Penland was an intern reporter for KRCU in 2014.