They began gathering outside the Starry Plough in Berkeley Thursday about an hour before the 9 p.m. jam to memorialize Anthony Anderson, the 40-year-old trumpet player who was shot and killed Monday morning outside his San Leandro home by deputies from the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. People cried, hugged, and told stories punctuated with laughter. Some held flowers, others carried instrument cases over their shoulders. One younger man broke out a violin and played on the corner.
The drums started just after 10 a.m. Saturday, and suddenly there was nowhere to stand but in the middle of it-100 dancers in feathered headdresses and traditional regalia, their ayoyotes rattling with every step like rain on metal. The sound hit the chest hard. Smoke from sage and copal filled South Van Ness Avenue, the sharp smell of incense thick in the cold morning air.
Austin's cricket club, Ferntree Gully, posted on Facebook on Thursday calling on people to put your bats out for Benny, replicating the gesture that followed Hughes' death. Dozens of other posts under the hashtag #batsoutforben have followed, highlighting the impact the incident has had on Australia's cricket community. Cricket Victoria's chief executive, Nick Cummins, was emotional in addressing media on Thursday.
"He's part of a brotherhood-just like the NYPD, FDNY, and EMS," said fellow security guard and doorman Michael Nared. "We're a unique group of people who do the job we do."
