ST. LOUIS — In a city bracing for another convulsion, the waiting game looks like this:
University students rally for peace. Churches draw up plans for “safe spaces,” a refuge during potential chaos. Fringe groups pass out fliers advocating for various kinds of instigation if a grand jury decides not to indict a police officer who 3 ½ months ago shot an unarmed teenager.
It’s that decision, which authorities have for days signaled was imminent but now seems slow to come, that has brought St. Louis into a bizarre holding pattern.
Eyes were trained on this weekend as the decisive moment for an area that has been rocked by the shooting and the weeks of unrest, some of it violent, that immediately followed. But news came Saturday that the grand jury was still deliberating.
Exactly when it will reconvene is uncertain, though it could be Monday or possibly sooner, according to people knowledgeable about the deliberations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the grand jury operates in secret.
Ed Magee, a spokesman for St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch, said his office is not confirming when the grand jury is meeting.
That means whatever looming eventuality must continue to loom as the area moves closer to the Thanksgiving holiday.
“People are getting anxious, and this doesn’t help that,” said Tony Rice, a frequent protester who helps coordinate the ongoing but small demonstrations outside the Ferguson Police Department. “I bought into the hype of it being this weekend, even though I knew better.”
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama, community leaders, and the father of slain 18-year-old Michael Brown have all called for peace — a concern if the grand jury decides not to indict Darren Wilson, the officer.
Ferguson, the suburb where the killing took place, is prepared for chaos. Business owners have boarded up storefronts, and the FBI has about 100 agents and other personnel here.
Two men tied to the New Black Panthers were indicted on illegal gun purchasing charges. They were presented Friday.
“If Darren Wilson walks, America must be brought to a halt,” said Lou Downey, a supporter of the Revolutionary Communist Party. “That means no business as usual. It means blocking streets and walking out of schools. It means we refuse to accept this.”
Some in Ferguson say they fear the lead-up to the grand jury decision has caused tension to build all the further.
If the grand jury does not indict Wilson, “I think [the community] will feel like it’s open season on young black men,” said Rev. Tommie Pierson, pastor of Greater St. Mark Family Church. “You will see an outburst of protest. I hope that we can be more targeted and more disciplined in our protest.”
