The NAACP will not be allowed to march next month to mark the one-year anniversary of Andrew Brown Jr’s death after officials in Elizabeth City, North Carolina denied a permit application.
According to the News & Observer, the Pasquotank Chapter of the national civil rights organization was planning a 1.1. mile march on April 21 at 5 p.m. in honor of Brown, who was fatally shot by police last year. Soon after submitting the application, the local branch got a call from the deputy city clerk who asked about the march’s purpose.
“I told them it was the ‘Journey to Justice,'” Keith Rivers, president of the Pasquotank NAACP Chapter told the newspaper. “She said that was the anniversary of Andrew Brown’s murder. I said, ‘Yes, it is.’ She wrote that in.”
“They just had a marathon here that shut the whole city down,” Rivers said. “We’re marching one mile. We have had nothing but nonviolent protests. We have been out here every day for Andrew.”
Protesters in Elizabeth City, NC, are in the streets after an emergency council meeting. Today, a deputy fatally shot Andrew Brown Jr. The SBI is investigating the shooting.
Last year, a group of local police officers opened fire on Brown as he was driving away from the home where they attempted to execute a search warrant. Brown was struck several times, including a fatal shot to the back of the head. He was unarmed at the time.
“We were not even made aware. I’m in full support of this march,” Horton said, vowing to get some answers about the permit’s denial.
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