As we've watched what has happened in Ferguson play out on television, one San Diego Pastor felt the need to be a part of the call for calm.
Pastor Terrell Fletcher of City of Hope International is from St. Louis, Mo.
As he watched images of protesters and police officers in riot gear with weapons drawn from thousands of miles away, he decided to act.
“To see that we were in a place of distress, a place where we felt voiceless, I wanted to be a part of helping facilitate a conversation between the police department,” Fletcher told NBC 7 via phone from Ferguson on Friday.
For him, it's personal.
"I connected a lot with the incident itself but also because this is home,” he explained.
Thursday night, when his plane touched down, he went straight to Ferguson and became a part of the action.
Taking photos and posting them to Twitter, saying it was a much different scene than what we all saw just the day before.
"We were really watching the sigh of relief. The breath of fresh air. For what it's worth, it was really electric. It was very positive,” said Fletcher.
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By Friday, the name of the officer involved in the shooting was released. Along with surveillance video of what Ferguson Police say is Michael Brown stealing cigars from a convenience store and shoving the clerk.
"It's still a little bit of tension in the air that with the move that the Police Department made today it raised suspicions again, considering the timing of it.”
Pastor Fletcher says now that things have calmed, he’s hoping to help the community he loves take a step toward healing.
“I didn’t come here to St. Louis to make Officer Darren Wilson a criminal. I came to push and promote peace, to allow the system to work itself out, with the hope that justice will ultimately prevail."
