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Ferguson resident: "No jobs, no peace, period"

Mark Strassmann spoke with three neighborhood protesters about Ferguson and the recent tension and a possible underlying cause
Ferguson residents frustrated over lack of opportunity 02:35

The National Guard began pulling out of Ferguson, Mo. Friday.

It was quiet again Friday night with eight arrests.

The grand jury investigating the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, will meet again next Wednesday to hear more evidence.

CBS News learned Friday the panel is made up of six white men, three white women, one black man and two black women.

The funeral for Michael Brown, who was 18, will be held Monday.

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Lesley McSpadden, Michael Brown's mother CBS

Lesley McSpadden, Brown's mother, grieved Friday where her son was killed.

Twenty feet away, were three neighborhood protestors -- Donny, Tray and Luciano, all in their early 20s.

"I'm tired of being looked at as another species, like we ain't even human," said Donny.

They say Ferguson stores were burned and looted for a reason.

"I don't condone it, I understand why they doing it. Throwing stuff at the police, because they're throwing stuff at us," said Luciano.

Tray said he wanted to loot. "I wanted to go, but I held my ground."

"It ain't no black and white thing. It's a police against the people thing," Said Luciano. "It ain't black and white because there are white people out here with us."

Donny and Trey are working musicians. Luciano's going to technical school, but they've all had run-ins with the law.

In Ferguson, the unemployment rate for black men between ages 20 and 24 is 46 percent.

"If they don't come and restore these neighborhoods for these people, like, we have to travel miles to go to Wal-mart and to get gas and stuff like that, when they used to be right here in the community. For people who stay here there's going to be hell to pay," said Luciano.

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Donny (R), Tray and Luciano (L), protestors in Ferguson, Mo. CBS

The men said it isn't easy to make a living in St. Louis. There are a lot of frustrations; that is one of them.

"That's why people [are] looting, it's cause they can't get no jobs," said Tray.

John Bonds, a former local gang member, now acts as a bridge between protestors and police. He says the real issue is opportunity.

"They know how to paint, they know how to cut grass, they can clean, they can vacuum, tear down the ones that don't need to be there... give us those jobs, set it up to and we can do," said Bonds.

No jobs, no peace?

"No jobs, no peace, period," said Bonds.

All four men told CBS News that they're looking for a hand up not a handout. They all said anyone of them could have been Brown.

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