A 'die in' for lawyers
If you happened by the City Hall courtyard over lunch break Friday, you might have encountered a surreal scene -- a gathering of Philadelphia lawyers, dressed in business attire and splayed motionless on the ground in solidarity with Mike Brown, the teenager who was shot to death by a Ferguson, Mo., police officer.
If you happened by the City Hall courtyard over lunch break Friday, you might have encountered a surreal scene -- a gathering of Philadelphia lawyers, dressed in business attire and splayed motionless on the ground in solidarity with Mike Brown, the teenager who was shot to death by a Ferguson, Mo., police officer.
The 4.5-minute protest reflected the 4.5 hours that the teenager's body was allowed to lay on the ground in the August shooting, which last week a grand jury found was not grounds for criminal charges.
And the music playing over the grim courtyard scene?
Neil Diamond crooning "So This is Christmas," the opening line from John Lennon's "Happy Xmas."
Five lawyers were from a nonprofit firm, which they asked to go unnamed. The lunch-breaking barristers had no problem with being identified.
"We wanted to meaningfully add to the discussion and bring awareness to the injustice," said Yvelisse Pelotte, 27.
She provided this quick video, shot by Suzanne Young.