Dozens of Seminole County community members prayed and rallied in Sanford Monday night, showing unity with the National Hands Up Movement that began after the death of Michael Brown.
The remembrance was peaceful outside the Goldsboro Welcome Center. Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith said his department helped plan the logistics of the rally and believes his city has something unique to offer Ferguson.
“We’ve had some conversations with the Department of Justice looking at what initiatives can take place," Smith said. "Our primary goal is to allow Ferguson to get through the grieving process.”
One of the highlights of the event: community members signed a quilt that will be hand delivered soon to Michael Brown’s family in Ferguson.
“Being here and being apart of it and seeing people and talking to people," Smith said, "That’s the human side of law enforcement that we have been trying to do for the past year and show that when events take place, we will be there to provide some type of assistance and to share in the change in the community.”
“You can hear the whole country crying out, not just black, white brown but all of them," Allen Smith, Sanford resident. "I’ve seen them from Wall Street to the slums and they know what’s right and what’s not right and my baby knows what’s right.”
The rally happened on the same day mourners filled a church in Missouri for a memorial for Michael Brown that included friends, family, celebrities and civil rights activists.