Ferguson Protesters Call For Removal Of Prosecutor Bob McCulloch At St. Louis Council Meeting

Protesters interrupted a St. Louis County council meeting Tuesday night to call for the immediate removal of the prosecuting attorney Bob McCulloch investigating the Michael Brown shooting case. Protesters also demanded the arrest of Darren Wilson, the police officer who fatally shot Brown on Aug. 9.

St. Louis activist Anthony Shahid addressed council members at the meeting with a noose tied around his neck. The gesture was meant to be symbolic.

“Y’all are ISIS for black people,” Shahid said, addressing the council. He was referring to the Islamic State, the militant group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS, known for its brutal militant methods.

Nearly 40 people spoke at the council meeting and much of their anger was directed toward Councilman Steve Stenger who has close professional ties to the prosecutor, the Associated Press reported.

Critics and protesters are concerned McCulloch, who has been the county prosecutor for two decades, cannot oversee the case without bias. McCulloch’s father was a police officer killed in the line of duty in the 1960s, according to AP.

Tensions have been high since the unarmed, 18-year-old Brown was fatally shot in Ferguson. Protests against police brutality broke out across Ferguson and the rest of the country soon after Brown's death. Last week, a similar protest took place at the Ferguson city council meeting, after which protestors attempted to block an interstate highway. The protest resulted in at least 35 arrests.

After Tuesday’s council meeting, protesters reportedly observed four-and-a-half minutes of silence in memory of the four-and-a-half hours that Brown’s body remained in the street after he was shot.