Moffitt has participated in demonstrations at the site "since day one" after Brown was killed, he said. Almost everyone at the memorial site Tuesday night had been there in the immediate aftermath, too, he said.

"These are faces I recognize, faces I know," he said. "We're still out here letting our voices be heard."

"There are other people who got a lot of attention at that time, then they disappeared. Where are they now?"

Not much has changed in Ferguson since Brown's death, Moffitt said.

"Where are the police and politicians tonight?" he said. "If they cared about the community, about making a difference, they would be here with us. They're a part of this, too."

Tammie Holland and her daughter Meadow, 9, drove from their home in south St. Louis to visit the memorial Tuesday. The pair were in Ferguson in the hours after Brown's death, Holland said. They saw blood in the street.

"I had to be here," Holland said. "I thought, 'I still have a voice. If people see me standing maybe they'll stand up, too.'"

The pair didn't know anyone would be at the site when they arrived, expecting to say a prayer and then head home. The presence of other people brought them comfort, Meadow said.