Have we gathered in the streets for Ferguson Laurent?
Have we mourned, or even acknowledged, his passing in the midst of local and national upheaval?
On the morning of Nov. 3 in Salisbury, Ferguson Laurent Jr., a 23-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by police after a Special Response Team attempted to serve a “no-knock” warrant to a home.
Police were searching for narcotics, weapons and stolen property, so they sent a unit specially trained in making entry into a home with people who are armed. This was the first time a no-knock search warrant, which authorizes officers to go into a home unannounced, was used in Salisbury this year.
The officer who shot Laurent, after police said someone fired at least one shot from inside the house, was identified as K. Boehm — an officer who has been with the department since 2008 and was involved in another fatal shooting in 2010.
A few area pastors and community members formed a tight circle outside the home, holding hands while praying for Laurent’s family, police and the community. Salisbury police Chief Jerry Stokes acknowledged that citizens could exercise their First Amendment right to protest, but that violence and property damage would be a problem if they occurred.
The shooting came on the heels of the deaths of Keith Scott, Jonathan Ferrell, Korryn Gaines, Terence Crutcher, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin and so many more.
Following the police shooting of Keith Scott in Charlotte, multiple universities in North Carolina staged peaceful “die-ins” to display solidarity with front-lines protesters and Charlotte Uprising.
Charlotte Uprising is a coalition of volunteers, activists and local and state organizers committed to advocating for “police accountability, transparency and social and economic equity.” The movement began as a direct response to sustained police violence against Black people in Charlotte and across the nation.
