Young black protesters from Ferguson, Missouri, want to keep their anger focused on the fatal police shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown as their movement takes on a national dimension that threatens to dilute it.
During a weekend of demonstrations marking the two-month anniversary since Brown, an African-American, was killed by a white police officer, protesters challenged the outsiders who arrived in Ferguson pushing an array of agendas.
"The outside people don't know the real struggle. I can't afford to buy plane tickets and hotel rooms like all of these can. They come and cause trouble with their expensive phones and then go home to their rich neighborhoods," said Tory Russell, a local organizer with Hands Up United, which helped put together the weekend demonstrations dubbed Ferguson October.
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