This past weekend, besides continuing unrest and protests in Ferguson and all over St. Louis, a sad and disturbing story came out of South St. Louis City. A Bosnian man later identified as 32 year old Zemir Begic was beaten and left for dead at the intersection of Gravois and Itaska. His brother Rasim spoke to me this morning about the events that have forever altered his life:
He and his wife were in the car, and it was stopped near the intersection. Several teens surrounded and attacked the vehicle, and Zemir stepped out to see what the problem was. As they began to attack him and his wife, he pushed his wife back into the car to protect her. And they killed him.
This should never have happened to a man like my brother. He was too good of a man for this. He would have given anyone the shirt off his back. Anyone. One time he actually drove from where he lived in Phoenix, Arizona, to help our sister in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, because her car broke down.
We are all devastated. The phone call we got was like a heart attack. Something will always be missing from our hearts because of this. All we want is to see justice done for my brother.
We appreciate all the support from family, from the Bosnian community, from social media.
Of course, the protesters in Ferguson have already attempted to make this about them. St. Louis police have two suspects in custody and are searching for a third, and Ferguson protesters are already saying that of course Begic will get justice because he is white. What they neglect to mention is that in Ferguson, the unwritten law is that “snitches get stitches,” and people are reluctant to talk to the police at all. They are even more reluctant to tell the truth. When Begic was killed this weekend, the stories told by multiple witnesses were consistent, and those who talked seemed to have the service of justice in mind.
But the truth of the matter is that all lives matter. Black, white, brown, Christian, Muslim, Jew. The fact that any man would be beaten to death simply because he got out of his car is unacceptable.
A crowd funding site has been set up to aid Begic's family in preparing his funeral arrangements, and interested parties can feel free to donate here.
