WHEN Heather Kellman moved to St Louis, Missouri, six months ago she never expected that she would be witnessing first-hand a civil rights riot.
Kellman, who hails from St Joseph, has been closely monitoring the unrest in Ferguson, which is about seven minutes from where she lives, hoping and praying that it does not spill over to her neighbourhood.
Kellman said she knew of four other Barbadians living in the general area.
On August 9, the peace she had been enjoying in St Louis was all but shattered when news began to spread about the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old teenager, by a white police officer.
Since the event, which has led to almost daily rioting, Kellman has been posting videos and photos on her Facebook page of the rioting.
Speaking to the WEEKEND NATION yesterday during a telephone interview, she confessed that she was terrified, adding that she was mainly keeping indoors and away from Ferguson where she does most of her shopping.
However, she explained that the day after Brown’s killing she went to the candlelight vigil to observe what was going on and almost got caught in the unrest.
“I was standing up watching the people gathering at the site where Brown was killed. They were holding candles and chanting ‘no justice, no peace!’ Then I looked through the streets and I saw about 5 000 people coming towards us. It reminded me of Spring Garden – just to see all of those people.”
But Kellman, who was recording the scene with her camera, soon realised that there was no party taking place.
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