Town Erects Memorial in Honor of Mike Brown. Here’s What a Former Police Officer Has to Say About it

After the repeated destruction of memorials to Michael Brown, the Brown family and the town of Ferguson have agreed on a more permanent structure.

In September 2014, the makeshift memorial to Brown, which was in the middle of the street, was set on fire and destroyed, writes CBS News.

Rebuilt, it was again destroyed, this time intentionally by a vehicle the day after Christmas:

Then a memorial tree was planted in April, only to be cut down one day later:

Now, the most recent memorial to Brown has been removed by officials, with the items put in storage, reports Fox 2 Now. A permanent marker will take its place, which includes a plaque placed in the sidewalk:

San Diego 6 writes that the memorial plaque, along with a metal dove marker, were installed in the sidewalk Thursday, hundreds of feet apart, near the place where Michael Brown was shot last year. It reads:

I would like the memory of Michael Brown to be a happy one. He left an afterglow of smiles when life was done. He leaves an echo whispering softly down the ways, of happy and loving times and bright and sunny days. He’d like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun of happy memories that he left behind when life was done.

But not everyone believes the memorial is appropriate.

IJReview reached out to former police officer Chip Pierce for his thoughts on the complex matter:

I don’t think a criminal that was killed while assaulting a police officer deserves to be memorialized. It sends the wrong message. Every time people are paid to protest a supposed injustice before the facts are known we lose credibility in the justice system.

Michael Brown was a criminal, he had moments earlier committed or assisted with a strong armed robbery. When the officer approached, Brown attacked. The officer shot him in self-defense and it was proven to be justified by a Grand Jury.

He like many other people that attacked police officers lose their lives as a result, which isn’t something to be memorialized. There are police killings that cross the line. I do not believe this was one of them. I wasn’t on the grand jury and I’ve never been to Ferguson, so I don’t have all the facts, but trying officers in the media is not appropriate.

Pierce was a commissioned law enforcement officer in Virginia for nine years.