The Ferguson-related protests that have consumed Oakland for the past two nights, and spread to Emeryville last night, have not, so far, directly affected Berkeley, although BPD has been on alert and has called for mutual aid in case it was needed.
That’s not to say many in Berkeley weren’t thinking about the decision announced Monday not to indict the police officer who killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Missouri.
Someone, or perhaps several people, maybe children, took time to write their thoughts down with chalk in front of the recently installed mosaic walls at Malcolm X Elementary School in Berkeley.
Ben Hardy was on his way to work Wednesday morning when he noticed the writing. He took the photos shown here. Among the sentiments expressed: “Black Lives Matter,” “Don’t Hurt or Kill Anyone,” and “We Stand with Ferguson.”
Hardy said he didn’t know who was behind the inscriptions, and inquiries made by Berkeleyside have so far not turned up anything. Hardy said the writing was not there Tuesday morning. One possibility is that school children did it yesterday before heading out for the Thanksgiving break.
“Hard to read but the last one mentions Oscar, Trayvon and Mike’s names in hearts,” Hardy wrote on Twitter where he posted the images. “All say Black Lives Matter. Little kids wrote this… Can’t imagine what it’s like for kids to have to consider that they could die in the same way too.”
If readers have information about the writing, please share it in the Comments.
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