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ferguson protests
Michael Brown’s stepfather is being investigated for inciting illegal activity during protests in Ferguson.
Video of Louis Head shows him yelling: “Burn this [place] down!” before last week’s riots over perceived racial injustice in the Missouri town.
Louis Head spoke as a grand jury announced no charges for a white police officer who shot and killed the unarmed teenager.
The incident sparked a nationwide dialogue about race relations.
St Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman told reporters on December 2 that authorities want to talk to Louis Head about his comments amid a larger investigation into arson and looting during the Ferguson protests.
Twelve commercial buildings were destroyed by fire that night, after the jury’s decision was announced.
Family attorney Benjamin Crump has called Louis Head’s recorded comments “raw emotion”.
The officer who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Darren Wilson, resigned from the force over the weekend.
The policeman said he had feared for his life, but Michael Brown’s supporters said the teenager was attempting to surrender when he was shot.
The investigation into Louis Head comes one day after President Barack Obama requested $263 million to improve police training, pay for body cameras and restore trust in policing.
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Ferguson protesters began targeting Black Friday sales at major retailers overnight in a new tactic to vent their anger at a grand jury decision not to indict a white Officer Darren Wilson who fatally shot black teenager Michael Brown.
About 75 demonstrators protested peacefully, chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot!”, bemusing bargain-hunters pushing their brimming shopping carts inside a Walmart in another nearby suburb of St. Louis.
They dispersed peacefully when ordered by a small group of police, moving on to a Target store where they staged a similar demonstration. More protests were planned for Friday.
Ferguson became a flashpoint for often troubled US race relations after Officer Darren Wilson shot dead Michael Brown on August 9.
The grand jury’s decision on November 24 not to charge Darren Wilson prompted a spasm of fury in Ferguson. About a dozen businesses were torched and more than 100 people were arrested in clashes with riot police that rumbled on into Tuesday night.
Before heading in convoy to Walmart late on Thursday, a group of some 100 demonstrators ate Thanksgiving dinner, sang, prayed and discussed their new strategy in the basement of a St. Louis church.
Ferguson, home to about 21,000 people, is a predominantly black city where almost all the political leaders and police are white.
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Ferguson protests have spread across the US after the grand jury’s decision not to charge white policeman Darren Wilson who shot black teenager Michael Brown.
Demonstrations from New York to Seattle were mostly peaceful but rioting broke out in Oakland, California.
There was some unrest in Ferguson itself, with police making 44 arrests, but the town did not see rioting on the scale of Monday night.
Officer Darren Wilson says he has a “clean conscience”.
Darren Wilson, who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9, told ABC News that in the struggle which preceded the shooting, he had felt “like a five-year-old holding on to [US wrestler] Hulk Hogan”.
Many in Ferguson’s predominantly African-American community had called for Darren Wilson to be charged with murder, but the grand jury’s decision means the police officer will not face state criminal charges over the shooting.
Lawyers for Michael Brown’s family denounced the grand jury’s decision as “unfair” while condemning the violence that followed the decision.
St Louis County police chief Jon Belmar said November 25 had been “generally a much better night” in Ferguson, a town of 21,000 people.
Tear gas was fired just once, he said, when rioters smashed windows at the Ferguson town hall. There was only one report of shooting, he added, when a car was set alight.
Some 2,200 National Guard soldiers were deployed to assist police in keeping order in and around the town.
Protests were reported in 12 cities: St Louis itself as well as Seattle, Albuquerque, New York, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Oakland, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Portland, Chicago and Boston.
In Oakland, in the San Francisco Bay area, rioters vandalized police cars and businesses in the centre during a second night of unrest in the port city of 406,000 people.
Looting was reported in several locations, including a classic car dealership and a mobile phone store, while a main road was briefly blocked, the US broadcaster CBS reports.
Speaking from Chicago on November 25, President Barack Obama said there was “no excuse” for destructive behavior and criminal acts of rioting, adding that those responsible should be prosecuted.
The frustration seen by the grand jury’s decision, the president said, had “deep roots in many communities of color who have a sense that our laws are not being enforced uniformly or fairly”.
Barack Obama said he had ordered Attorney General Eric Holder to look at what steps could be taken to build trust in communities and make sure that “law enforcement is fair”.
Much of the debate since August has centered on whether Michael Brown was attempting to surrender to Darren Wilson when he was shot.
Speaking to ABC News in his first public comments, Darren Wilson said there was nothing he could have done differently.
“The reason I have a clean conscience is because I know I did my job right,” he said.
Darren Wilson denied witness statements that Michael Brown had put his hands up, insisting race had played no part in the confrontation.
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At least 17 people have been arrested in St Louis, Missouri, during a weekend of planned protests against police shootings.
Demonstrators were held for unlawful assembly after staging a sit-in outside a convenience store early on Sunday, October 12.
Thousands of people in Missouri have taken part in rallies and vigils as part of a four-day event named Ferguson October.
Weeks of protests have been sparked by the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson.
Several demonstrators gathered outside a QuikTrip petrol station and convenience store in St Louis on Sunday morning, refusing to disperse.
Riot police used pepper spray to clear the protest.
Thousands of people in Missouri have taken part in rallies and vigils as part of a four-day event named Ferguson October
St Louis police chief Sam Dotson said on his Twitter account that the protesters were “attempting to storm” the store and had thrown rocks at police officers.
Protesters denied throwing rocks at the police.
A QuikTrip store in Ferguson was wrecked during violent protests in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s killing, and later became a gathering point for protesters.
Tensions in St Louis are also high after another black teenager, Vonderrit D. Myers, was shot dead by a police officer on Wednesday.
Police said 18-year-old Vonderrit D. Myers shot at an officer, but the victim’s parents say he was unarmed and racially profiled.
Ferguson October began on Friday, October 10, when hundreds of demonstrators lined up outside the office of the local prosecutor, Robert McCulloch.
Demonstrators chanted slogans calling for Robert McCulloch to charge Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown in August.
On October 11, there was a peaceful march through the centre of St Louis to the Keiner Plaza park. The crowd was larger than the day before, according to the Associated Press.
“This isn’t going to stop until there is change with police and black youth,” Tory Russell, one of the protest organizers, said.
Protest organizers said the weekend of events was intended “to build momentum for a nationwide movement against police violence”.
“We are here to bring peace, to bring restoration, to lift our banners in the name of those who’ve been sacrificed,” said another protest organizer, Montague Simmons.
Planned events include street protests as well as a music event and a day of “civil disobedience”.
Organizers have urged people from across the US to attend.
A US justice department investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown in August is continuing.
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Protesters have joined the first march of a planned weekend of demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri, against police shootings.
The protests were sparked by the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by police in August.
Weeks of protests and violence in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson followed Michael Brown’s shooting.
Tensions in St Louis are high after another black teenager was shot dead by a police officer on Wednesday.
Police in riot gear used pepper spray to try to dispel protesters angry at the shooting of Vonderrit D. Myers, 18.
Hundreds of protesters have joined the first march of a planned weekend of demonstrations in Ferguson against police shootings
Police said Vonderrit D. Myers shot at an officer, but the victim’s parents say he was unarmed and racially profiled.
Friday’s protest saw hundreds of demonstrators line up against police in riot gear outside the office of the St Louis prosecutor Robert McCulloch.
Demonstrators chanted slogans calling for Robert McCulloch to charge Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown in August.
Protest organizers said the weekend of events was intended “to build momentum for a nationwide movement against police violence”.
“We are here to bring peace, to bring restoration, to lift our banners in the name of those who’ve been sacrificed,” said protest organizer Montague Simmons.
The events, which will include street protests as well as a music event and a day of “civil disobedience”, have been branded “Ferguson October”.
Organizers have urged people from across the US to attend.
A US justice department investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown is continuing.
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Five people were arrested and two police officers injured in renewed violence overnight on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri.
The renewed violence sparked in the town after a fire destroyed a shrine to Michael Brown, the black teenager killed by a police officer last month.
Police in Ferguson have said they will not tolerate further violence in the town after protesters looted shops and harassed officers on Tuesday night.
There were violent clashes between police and demonstrators after the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman last month.
Police said that two officers were injured after confronting the crowd the night before.
Earlier, a memorial to the teenager burnt down in a suspicious fire.
Michael Brown, 18, was shot by Officer Darren Wilson on August 9 after being stopped for walking in the street.
His shooting led to nights of running street battles between protesters and heavily armed police.
Burning of Michael Brown memorial led to more Ferguson protests
Although community leaders and politicians were successful in calming Ferguson’s majority black population, the town remains tense with many demanding Darren Wilson’s prosecution for the shooting.
On Tuesday night, a shot was looted and vandalized and rocks thrown at police.
A decision was made to disperse protestors an officer was harassed, said Captain Ron Johnson of the Missouri state highway patrol.
“This behavior will not be tolerated,” he said.
The renewed violence came as a St Louis grand jury decides whether or not to charge Darren Wilson with Michael Brown’s shooting.
It is unclear when they will make a decision. A separate investigation by the US justice department is ongoing.
Earlier on Tuesday, a memorial on the street Michael Brown was shot was burnt down in suspicious circumstances.
Police said the cause of the blaze was under investigation, and local residents suspected arson.
One man told the Associated Press news agency it was like a grave had been desecrated.
A separate memorial marking the spot where Michael Brown died was not damaged in the fire.
Candles have been part of both memorials on the street for weeks, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Several hours later, the memorial had been rebuilt with new teddy bears, flowers and signs.
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Ferguson police have stopped protesters angry over the shooting of Michael Brown last month from trying to block a nearby highway.
Police said 35 people were arrested as they tried to reach the Interstate 70 highway, but added that the protest was largely peaceful.
Many in Ferguson, Missouri, have demanded the arrest of white police officer Darren Wilson who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9.
Officer Darren Wilson has been on administrative leave since last month.
Police said 32 people were arrested on charges of unlawful assembly, with four people arrested on assault charges.
Organizers said the protest was specifically held in the same location as a similar demonstration in 1999.
On September 9, city leaders, mostly white, were heckled by the largely black crowd of residents at Ferguson’s first city council meeting since the shooting.
Ferguson police have stopped protesters angry over the shooting of Michael Brown last month from trying to block a nearby highway
“You’ve lost your authority to govern this community,” said St Louis activist John Chasnoff.
“You’re going to have to step aside peacefully if this community is going to heal.”
Many of the audience held up their hands in a gesture that has been used to protest at Michael Brown’s killing.
Michael Brown’s supporters say the teenager was trying to surrender when he was shot by Officer Darren Wilson after being stopped for walking in the middle of the street.
Ferguson, which has a population of 21,000, is a majority black city. Many residents questioned why the mayor, James Knowles, and five of the six city council members were white.
“I heard the mayor say Ferguson doesn’t have a race problem,” said resident Taurean Russell.
“There must be two Fergusons.”
Before the meeting, council officials announced proposals to reduce the revenue collected from court fines.
Critics have said this discriminates against low-income defendants who cannot afford private attorneys and who are often jailed for not paying the fines quickly enough.
However, the proposals were drowned out by anger from the audience who said nothing had changed since Michael Brown’s shooting.
There were demands for the arrest of Darren Wilson who is currently on administrative leave from the Ferguson Police Department while a grand jury determines whether charges should be filed against him.
Last week, the US Justice Department announced it was launching a broad investigation into whether there was racial discrimination in the department.
This is separate from a federal inquiry and the grand jury investigation into Michael Brown’s killing.
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The National Guard has been sent to the town of Ferguson as protests escalate over the police shooting of black teenager Michael Brown.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signed an order to “help restore peace and order and to protect the citizens of Ferguson”.
The decision was made as police clashed with angry crowds shortly before a second night under curfew began.
Police in Ferguson, a suburb of St Louis, said they came under attack and had “no alternative” but to respond.
Captain Ron Johnson said protesters had thrown Molotov cocktails and bottles at security forces, and set up barricades before the five-hour curfew began at midnight on Sunday.
“For those who would claim that the curfew was what led to [the] violence, I will remind you this incident began three and a half hours before the curfew was to have started,” Ron Johnson told journalists in Ferguson on Monday.
Correspondents at the scene described seeing smoke clouds rise up as police began to disperse the protests on West Florissant Avenue, with a helicopter beaming down a spotlight.
Some of the demonstrators were spluttering and poured bottles of water into their eyes as they felt the effects of tear gas. Others sought cover from the unrest inside a fast food restaurant.
The killing of Michael Brown by a white policeman in a street on August 9 has inflamed racial tensions in the largely black suburb.
The National Guard has been sent to the town of Ferguson as protests escalate over the police shooting of black teenager Michael Brown (photo AP)
Officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown after reportedly stopping him for walking in the street, disrupting traffic.
Governor Jay Nixon has criticized police for releasing surveillance video which apparently shows Michael Brown stealing some hours before his death.
Jay Nixon said the release of the footage “appeared to cast aspersions” on the dead man, saying “it made emotions raw”.
He also condemned the protesters: “These violent acts are a disservice to the family of Michael Brown and his memory and to the people of this community who yearn for justice to be served and to feel safe in their own homes.”
A preliminary post-mortem examination by the St Louis County Medical Examiner’s office on the day after Michael Brown’s death found he had been shot, police said, without disclosing how many times.
However, a preliminary private post-mortem report has since revealed that he was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, the New York Times reports.
The bullets did not appear to have been fired from very close range due to the lack of gunpowder on the victim’s body, forensic pathologist Michael Baden was quoted by the paper as saying.
Michael Baden flew to Missouri on Sunday to conduct a separate autopsy at the request of the family.
Officials last week confirmed that Darren Wilson was a six-year police veteran with no previous complaints against him. He has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting.
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