St.Louis Peace Fest focuses on Michael Brown's death

Hundreds of people braved blistering 104-degree heat Sunday to attend St. Louis' annual Peace Fest in Forest Park.

The event looked like a festival, with funnel cakes, shaved ice and live music. Police were nowhere in sight.

But the mood was not celebratory. Speakers kept the spotlight on the fatal shooting Aug. 9 of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, by a white police officer in nearby Ferguson.

Victoria Ryan-Bailey, 59, of St. Louis, walked the festival holding a poster that said, "Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death."

"This unrest is a result of conditions that exist not just in St. Louis but throughout America," she said. "People are on edge. They're tired of being ignored."

Actor Hill Harper declared that he was just as guilty of Brown's death as police officer Darren Wilson because society has allowed police departments to become increasingly militaristic.

"We were willingly ignoring all the activity that led to the death of an unarmed 18-year-old," he said.

Michael Brown Sr. made a brief appearance.

Joined by civil rights activist Al Sharpton, he urged the crowds not to demonstrate Monday during his son's funeral.

"Tomorrow, all I want is peace while my son is being laid to rest," he said.

Sharpton said, "This is not about our rage tomorrow."

Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, a black teen who was shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida in 2012, gave a brief, impassioned speech.

"We are here for you," she said, standing next to Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father. "Michael Brown had a right to live. He had a right to see another birthday. He had a right like anyone else to walk on the street."

The rally ended with what has become a signature of the Ferguson protests, based on what witnesses say happened in Michael Brown's last moment.

"Hands up!" the crowd shouted, raising their arms. "Don't shoot!"