Denver protesters on Ferguson: ‘We’re here in support and solidarity’

Photo: Denver protest
About 100 people in Denver protested on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, a Missouri grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer who killed an unarmed black teen.

About 100 people protested in Denver Monday night after a grand jury announcement in Ferguson, Missouri.

A white police officer, Darren Wilson, will not face charges in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old. Brown was killed August 9 in Ferguson, setting off several nights of protesting that included rioting, vandalism and arrests.

Reginald Holmes, a pastor for the New Covenant Christian Church in Denver, was among the protestors at the peaceful rally in Civic Center Park Monday night. He says he was disappointed but not surprised by the grand jury's decision.

“We’re here in support and solidarity," Holmes said. "But we’re also here to hopefully remind people that this isn’t just a Ferguson issue, it’s a Denver issue as well. And we’ve got to, I think, shed some light on the issues we’ve got here in Denver.”

Holmes says the way Ferguson has handled the Brown shooting is "standard operating procedure" around the country.

"You almost steel yourself against what you know is coming," Holmes said. "You lose faith in America. You lose faith in the justice system."

Alvertis Simmons, a civil rights activist from Denver, said he had a tear in his eye when the grand jury's decision was announced.

"That could've been my grandsons, my nephews, or my brother," Simmons said. "The bottom line is, America has got to quit treating black people like we don't count."