Attacking a white man w/hammer not racially motivated, but a police officer defending his life is?This world has gone mad — RaisedRightUpNorth (@packinginheels)December 2, 2014
Hilarious thing about right-wing — Umar Lee (@STLAbuBadu)December 2, 2014
On Sunday evening, about 150 people, mostly Bosnians, gathered for a vigil in the Bevo Mill neighborhood of St. Louis — where many of the city's 60,000 Bosnians settled after fleeing the Balkans War of the 1990s.Taking cues from Ferguson protesters, they blocked the streets, demanding justice. Some even carried the "no justice, no peace" signs that became an icon of the Ferguson protests.Sad at people who reject justice for Mike Brown but demand it for Zemir Begic. Both victims deserve to have their killers put on trial.
— Joshua Foust (@joshuafoust)December 1, 2014
"We're going to have a little bit of fun blocking our own traffic," Adnan Esmerovic, 27, a local resident, told the Washington Post. "In Ferguson, they want to make a protest about nothing and yet that attracted attention across the nation… We're just trying to keep more police down here because of these little thugs."Responding to the protesters, St. Louis police chief Sam Dotson said "there is no indication that the gentleman last night was targeted because he was Bosnian.""The whole idea of standing out in the street is to get our attention," Dotson added, asking people to stay off the streets. "You got my attention. You absolutely did."Vigil in South St. Louis for the man killed by 4 teens with hammers this weekend. — Allison Blood (@AllisonBlood)December 1, 2014
The three teens in custody so far — all aged 15 to 17 — reportedly approached another Bosnian man about an hour earlier that evening, but he was able to fight them off, suffering minor injuries. Police said that the three boys — two African-American and one Hispanic — had nothing in their criminal background that could suggest they would carry out such an attack. Prosecutors have filed first-degree murder charges against 17-year-old Robert Mitchell, as well as an additional charge of armed criminal action.St. Louis mayor Francis Slay also rushed to reassure the Bosnian community that the attack did not appear to be targeted or ethnically motivated, but called it instead "random and senseless," and said the teens to be prosecuted as adults.With Zemir, the police immediately arrested two of the alleged murderers. With Brown, they helped the killer hide. That's racism.
— Joshua Foust (@joshuafoust)December 1, 2014
An innocent life was savagely taken. Lives of countless others have been ruined by this random and senseless violence. — MayorSlay.com (@MayorSlay)December 1, 2014
"He loved America," Denisa Begic, the man's sister, told reporters. "We come from Bosnia because we were getting killed and our homes and families were getting destroyed. Never in my life did I think he would get murdered."She also said that her brother would not have judged the three teens that assaulted him based on their race."He loved everybody," she said. "I don't know what to think of it. It's so wrong what they did. They didn't just hurt Zemir's family. They also hurt their own family because I'm pretty sure their moms will never see them again."Follow Alice Speri on Twitter: @alicesperiImage via GoFundMeGofundme page has been set for funeral expenses of Zemir Begic. — joelcurrier (@joelcurrier)December 1, 2014