Angry crowds poured into the streets of Ferguson within minutes of news that a grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer in the death an unarmed black 18-year-old, whose fatal shooting sparked weeks of demonstrations and exposed deep racial tension between African-Americans and police.
President Barack Obama and the family of Michael Brown asked for calm after St. Louis County’s top prosecutor announced the grand jury’s decision on Monday evening.
As Obama spoke live from the White House briefing room, television networks showed Obama on one side of the screen, and violent demonstrations in Ferguson on the other. Within a few hours, several buildings in the St. Louis suburb were ablaze, and frequent gunfire was heard. Officers used tear gas to try to disperse some of the gatherings.
Officer Darren Wilson’s fatal shooting of Brown during an Aug. 9 confrontation sparked a fierce debate over how police treat young African—American men and focused attention on long—simmering racial tensions in Ferguson and around the U.S., four decades after the 1960s civil rights movement.
Police were criticized for responding to mostly peaceful protests with armored vehicles and tear gas.
Obama said Monday night from the White House that Americans need to accept the grand jury’s decision.
“We are a nation built on the rule of law, so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury’s to make,” Obama said.
He said it was understandable that some Americans would be “deeply disappointed even angered,” but echoed Brown’s parents in calling for any protests to be peaceful.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch stressed that the grand jurors, who had met weekly since August 20, were “the only people who heard every witness ... and every piece of evidence.” He said many witnesses presented conflicting statements that ultimately were inconsistent with the physical evidence.
The panel heard more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses, including three medical examiners and experts on blood, toxicology and firearms.
McCulloch never mentioned that Brown was unarmed when he was killed. As McCulloch read his statement, Michael Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, was sitting atop a vehicle listening to a broadcast of the announcement. When she heard the decision, she burst into tears and began screaming before being whisked away by supporters.
Police departments in several big U.S. cities said they were bracing for large demonstrations with the potential for violence. Dozens of people in Oakland, California, blocked traffic on a major highway in the San Francisco Bay Area.AP
We are a nation built on the rule of law, so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury’s to make
