Many are worried that the racial unrest in Ferguson, Mo., could erupt on the streets of New York city this weekend, with a major protest march and rally scheduled to take place in Staten Island at the site of the sidewalk killing of Eric Garner allegedly at the hands of police, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The march, already planned by the Rev. Al Sharpton two weeks before the police shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, could draw more than 15,000 protesters to New York's outer borough, drawing demonstrators both from the tri-state area and from across the U.S.
Organizers have been planning “justice caravans” of cars and buses across the Verrazano Bridge to Staten Island. Since the police shooting in Ferguson, the significance of the protest march has grown exponentially from a march against NYPD tactics and Garner's death to a national protest of police violence against minorities. Brown's family is expected to attend, joining the family of Garner and others who died at the hands of police. So far, there has been little violence during New York protests, and Sharpton has repeatedly urged demonstrators in Ferguson to protest peacefully. Saturday's protest rally, dubbed the “We Will Not Go Back March” by Sharpton's National Action Network, will start in the morning and end at 3 p.m.