Faces of Ferguson: Five Years Later

French was one year into his second term as a St. Louis alderman representing north St. Louis when Michael Brown was fatally shot on Aug. 9, 2014.

He quickly became a fixture on the streets of Ferguson, and was the foremost elected official in using social media to document the unrest with a mix of opinion, reporting and photos. On a number of occasions, French helped diffuse tense encounters between police and protesters. French became an oft-seen face not only on local television but also in the national media that converged on Ferguson in the days after Brown was shot. Eventually, he was profiled by both the Los Angeles Times and Ebony magazine.

In 2017, French opted not to run for a third aldermanic term, but instead threw his hat into the ring for mayor. He was endorsed by the Post-Dispatch, but only managed to finish fourth in a seven-candidate fieldamong the seven candidates in the Democratic primary. French still lives in north St. Louis. He owns and manages MetroSTL, an online news service, and publishes The Northsider and The Southsider newspapers.

“Over the course of those events, I got to see the best and worst of human nature. And that certainly had a lasting effect on me — in some ways hopeful, and in some a bit more cynical,” French said.

Hope springs from the increased activism of young people, French said, adding: “something I’d tried to encourage before Ferguson, getting involved and actually change what is wrong here. And that has for the most part continued.”

Cynicism came along in the time following the relative calm after the unrest. “Before Ferguson, you could tell yourself some people simply were not aware of what was happening in the place they call home,” he said. “But after it was over, and after the Ferguson Commission report came out, people couldn’t say they didn’t know any more.

“It just meant that as a region,” he continued, “the majority just doesn’t care.”

— Joe Holleman

Andy Patel says his business has slowly made a comeback in the years since looters caused more than $50,000 in damage during street protests in 2014.

Patel’s Ferguson Market & Liquor at 9101 West Florissant Avenue is in the heart of the bustling commercial strip that became a nightly battleground between police and protesters in the months after Brown was killed by a Ferguson police officer.

“Nothing different,” insists Patel, who owns and manages the store with his brother and oldest daughter. ”I stay in Ferguson.”

As the five-year anniversary of Brown’s death looms, Patel says he hopes Aug. 9 comes and goes like any other of his 12-hour shifts behind the counter.

Five years ago, Brown appeared to shove Patel while leaving the store with unpaid cigarillos, shortly before Brown’s fatal encounter with a Ferguson police officer in the Canfield Green apartment complex.

The market was looted at least twice and caught fire in the months that followed.

“No come back,” Patel said, in hopes that protesters won’t target his store again.

In 2017, some residents who claimed criminal activity at the store called on the city to not renew Patel’s liquor license. It was approved.

Last August, protesters continued to gather outside his store, calling on the store to acknowledge its role in the Brown saga and demanding that the Patel family relinquish the store.

Patel couldn’t agree to that, said his lawyer Jay Kanzler. Ultimately, a deal with protesters to temporarily close the store on Aug. 9 to host a free community barbecue fizzled.

“They’ve made the commitment to stay here,” Kanzler said.

Patel emigrated from India in 1995. He worked at a Dunkin’ Donuts and a liquor store in Bellefontaine Neighbors for years before his family opened the Ferguson store a decade ago.

One challenge, Patel said, is that he has been unable to recoup thousands of dollars in repairs through insurance because investigators seized store surveillance footage that would have proved looters had caused the damage. Despite those losses and a slowdown after the protests, Patel said business has picked up and he feels the community has begun to embrace him again.

“Neighborhood nice,” he said. “No nothing to argue with me.”

No one even discusses Brown or the protests with him anymore, he said. And even though he hasn’t forgotten what happened, he says he wants to remain part of the Ferguson community for years to come.

“I’m stronger,” he said.

— Joel Currier

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