Camden 'die-in' a day after a march

In a second day of somber demonstrations in Camden, nearly 50 people gathered in front of the federal courthouse on Market Street and lay on the sidewalk Friday morning, their bodies outlined in white chalk.

The "die-in," like many held around the nation, was meant to highlight the police-involved deaths of Eric Garner, who died in an apparent choke hold in Staten Island, N.Y., and Michael Brown, the Ferguson, Mo., man who was shot by a police officer.

The gathering was held by the group Camden Churches Organized for People. Those who attended lay on the concrete for four minutes and 30 seconds to reflect the four hours and 30 minutes Brown's body was left outside.

"I wanted to cry laying down there," said Olive Massaquoi, 22, of Chester.

"It could happen to me, and so it's a scary feeling," she said of Brown's and Garner's deaths. "It's a really scary feeling."

The die-in Friday followed a march Thursday through downtown Camden, when about 25 people - six of them carrying an empty casket - walked from the Camden County Police Department to City Hall. The march was organized by community activists Gary Frazier Jr. and Amir Khan, a former Camden mayoral candidate.

On Thursday and Friday, people talked about their experiences with police in Camden and beyond.

The Rev. Marilyn Dixon, who serves at the Camden Bible Tabernacle Church, said one of her sons was once questioned by police in Audubon while waiting for a bus at night. Upon being told to leave, her son did so, despite being frustrated, she said.

Dixon has two sons, ages 41 and 35.

Both, she said, "have experienced things that could have ended their lives in dealing with police."

On Thursday, some people spoke of similar encounters with police, saying they bordered on harassment. Among them was Mark Fisher, 60, of Camden, who said he was pulled over in the city for issues with his brake lights even though they were working.

The Rev. Heyward Wiggins III, a member of Camden Churches Organized for People, said he believed people had an obligation to follow laws.

"If we do break them, then to some degree, we are accountable," he said. "It's when law enforcement goes over and beyond that that you have this issue" with cases such as Garner's and Brown's, he said.

Wiggins said his group previously met every month with Camden County police officials to discuss crime and interactions with the community in the city. He said the group had not met with police in nearly five months because of scheduling conflicts, but that it hoped to do so soon.