Will Bevo Mill Residents Bring About Ferguson-Type Riots Over Fatal Hammer Attack On Bosnian Man?

The fatal beating of a Bosnian man in the St. Louis neighborhood of Bevo Mill was horrible and tragic and is now bringing about even more concern. Many Bosnian residents gathered together to voice their anger and frustrations over the violence in their community, but is it enough to bring about the type of riots that have plagued Ferguson, Missouri, lately?

According to Fox 2 Now, police have built up their patrols after the Sunday morning death of 32-year-old Zemir Begic at the hands of four teenagers armed with hammers. There have been concerns that riots and payback could be coming from other Bosnian residents in Bevo Mill.

“They killed my son for no reason,” Begic’s father Bajro Begic said through an interpreter. ‘I just want justice for my son to be served the right way and to be served like they deserve.”

The teenagers jumped out of two cars in the Bevo Mill area and began to attack Begic. They started by beating on top of his car and then attacked Begic by hitting him in the abdomen, mouth, and head with hammers.

Begic was brought to St. Louis University Hospital to be treated, but he died shortly after arriving.

StlBosnians states that many peaceful demonstrators thought back about other Bosnian residents of Bevo Mill who have been victims of violence. One was a 19-year-old who was fatally shot in his family’s Bevo Mill convenience store back in May of 2013.

The Bosnian community in St. Louis was already very distraught after 24-year-old Denis Nasic’s body was found at the base of a cliff in Cliff Cave Park on Saturday. Police in St. Louis are still not sure how he died and if his death was suspicious, but he also lived just a few blocks away from where Begic was murdered.

Since the incident took place on the morning of November 30, three people have been arrested by the St. Louis Police. A 15-year-old and a 16-year-old were picked up by the cops and then a 17-year-old turned himself in. The oldest teenager has been charged with first-degree murder.

Mayor Francis Slay is outraged by the incident that happened in Bevo Mill and has the highest hope that the teenagers are tried as adult.

Twitter and other social media sites have lit up in the past few days as there truly is concern that Bevo Mill could become the next Ferguson.

#StLouis #bevomill #BosnianLivesMatter Just curious. Will people protest what happened to him the same way they protested Mike Brown?

— Michael Charton (@tucsonmike) December 1, 2014

Another big reason #bevomill isn’t on fire: no grievance industry for Bosnians (read: no Bosnian Sharptons). #JusticeForZemir

— Adam Bohn ? (@BadtotheBohn) December 1, 2014

Bevo Mill may not end up having riots, but the Bosnian community has already witnessed far too many violent and suspicious deaths. They won’t let this end without some sort of resolution, and it’s going to need to come soon.

[Image via StlBosnians]