Punching for dollars.
FERGUSON • Two people face felony assault charges after a fight that broke out last October in a Ferguson parking lot over the sale of commemorative Michael Brown shirts.
Latonya R. Ewings, 35, of the 3500 block of Illinois Avenue in St. Louis, and Calvin Carter, 36, of the 2400 block of Petrova Avenue in Jennings, were each charged Tuesday with one count of second-degree assault.
Court documents say Tony Petty was helping Pearlie Gordon sell “Justice for Mike Brown” merchandise under a tent at Red’s BBQ, a restaurant at 9300 West Florissant Avenue, on Oct. 18. Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9, 2014, prompting civil unrest here and nationwide.
Gordon is the mother of Michael Brown Sr.’s wife, Calvina. Gordon said at the time that she was selling the shirts with Petty and another man that afternoon when a group of about 20 to 30 people rushed them.
One of them was Lesley McSpadden, Michael Brown’s mother, who told Gordon she couldn’t sell the shirts. Gordon replied that McSpadden didn’t have a patent on the name and that she was going to keep selling the items.
