Wednesday 26 November 2014

Riots erupt after US jury fails to indict killer officer


Protestors display signs outside the White House on Monday in Washington, DC following the announcement that the white policeman who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, will not face charges

Ferguson. Protesters set buildings ablaze and looted stores in the US town of Ferguson on Monday after a grand jury chose not to press charges against a white officer who shot dead a black teen.
US President Barack Obama and the family of late 18-year-old Michael Brown appealed in vain for calm after a prosecutor said a grand jury had found the policeman acted in self-defense.
The shooting of Brown back in August sparked weeks of sometimes violent protests and a nationwide debate about forceful police tactics and race relations in America.

No ground for charges
St Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch said Officer Darren Wilson had fired 12 times after getting into an “altercation” (noisy quarrel) with Brown, and that the jury had found no grounds to file charges.
As McCulloch rounded off his summary of the grand jury’s decision, Brown’s mother burst into tears and the crowd began to chant: “Hey, hey, ho, ho! These killer cops have got to go.”
Members of an angry crowd outside the police station where Wilson had been threw bottles and stones. A police car was set alight and nearby stores looted.
Riot officers responded with teargas, batons and flash grenades, and running battles broke out in the streets of the St Louis suburb, with armored cars moving slowly through the area.
Looters smashed their way into a mobile phone store opposite the police headquarters and ransacked it.
Pam Bailey, a retiree from St Louis in her 60s, said she had expected the decision. “I have lived long enough to know that African Americans are not considered human beings,” she said.
Protest marches began in several more US cities, including New York, Chicago and the capital Washington DC.
Outside the White House in Washington, a crowd waved signs urging the government to “Stop racist police terror.”
Inside the executive mansion, US President Barrack Obama made a rapidly-organised televised appearance to appeal for calm in the Midwestern town, echoing the sentiments of the dead teenager’s family.
Michael Brown’s parents have lost more than anyone. We should be honouring their wishes,” President Obama said.
“I also appeal to the law enforcement officials in Ferguson and the region to show care and restraint in managing peaceful protests that may occur.”
Michael Brown’s family speaks out

The family of slain black US teen Michael Brown said they were “profoundly disappointed” by a grand jury’s decision not to charge the white police officer who killed him, but pressed for calm.
Brown’s mother Lesley McSpadden, in tears after the St Louis County prosecutor announced the grand jury’s decision, was hugged by supporters outside the police station in Ferguson, Missouri.
“We are profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence of his actions,” the Brown family said in a statement. “We respectfully ask that you please keep your protests peaceful. Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction.”

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