August 25, 2014.

Crowds Gather for Michael Brown's Funeral

"You asked me once," said O’Brien, "what was in Room 101. I told you that you knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst thing in the world."

ST. LOUIS----Crowds gathered on Monday, singing hymns and calling for justice at the funeral of Michael Brown, whose shooting by a police officer in a nearby suburb sparked days of protests and brought national attention to the often tense relationship between police and young blacks.

The door opened again. A guard came in, carrying something made of wire, a box or basket of some kind. He set it down on the further table. Because of the position in which O’Brien was standing. Winston could not see what the thing was.

In the thick Missouri heat, some mourners sang "We Shall Overcome," while others solemnly walked through the doors of Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church. Still others talked of what brought them here Monday for the funeral, which was set to begin at 10 a.m. local time.

"The worst thing in the world," said O’Brien, "varies from individual to individual. It may be burial alive, or death by fire, or by drowning, or by impalement, or fifty other deaths. There are cases where it is some quite trivial thing, not even fatal."

"You see so much injustice going on in our communities," said Shirley Minter, 66 years old, who came to show her support for Mr. Brown's family. "Michael Brown was an innocent black man on his way home. And to be shot down like that is very disturbing."