Ferguson Activist Darren Seals Found Fatally Shot In Burning Car
Ferguson activist Darren Seals was killed early Tuesday (September 6) in North St. Louis County.
According to The St. Louis American Seals was discovered in a car that was set on fire, but was shot to death before the vehicle was incinerated. The incident is currently being investigated as a homicide.
Seals was one of many Ferguson activists that protested in the streets seeking justice for Michael Brown Jr.'s death. When Brown — an unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot by a white Ferguson police officer — died, Seals spoke out about his death as well as other problems within the St. Louis region. He was featured on news outlets such as The Washington Post and Al Jazeera.
Seals also wasn't unfamiliar to the hostile behavior of the Ferguson Police Department. The St. Louis American also reports that prior to his death, Seals had recently uploaded a Facebook Live video sharing his own encounter with the Ferguson Police Department, saying police drew guns on him and his younger brother.
Still, Seals continued to fight for the black people of St. Louis, while also working as a factory line employee and hip-hop musician.
Fellow activists took to social media to mourn his loss. Ashley Yates, an activist who protested in Ferguson, wrote "Darren King D Seals stood for Mike Brown and is and will always be a part of my Ferguson family. Rest in power, D."
Carlos Ball, the brother of Cary Ball Jr., who was killed by St. Louis Police in 2013, replaced his Facebook profile picture with Seals' profile picture, which was taken as part of the portrait series This is the Movement.
DeRay Mckesson also mourned Seals' death, writing on Twitter "We can live in a world where people don't die by violence. Nobody deserves to die. We did not always agree, but he should be alive today."
Seals was 29. We will continue to update this story as more news is made available.
