Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


                      Ferguson Protests Move to Retailers

   by VOA News

   In the central United States, protesters in suburban Ferugson,
   Missouri, have moved their demonstrations against a grand jury's
   failure to indict a white police officer for killing an unarmed black
   teenager to major retailers.

   Dozens of people, beginning on the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday night
   and continuing into early Friday, went to Walmart and Target stores,
   chanting "Hands up, don't shoot," as police officers watched.

   The Friday after Thanksgiving is the first day of traditional Christmas
   shopping, during which huge crowds of consumers are drawn to special
   offers by retailers.

   Tensions appeared to ease Thursday in Ferguson after two nights of
   violence and looting.

   Residents of the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, and others who wanted to
   help, came out on Thanksgiving to clean up the debris left from the
   days of demonstrations that followed Monday's announcement that a grand
   jury had decided not to indict Darren Wilson for shooting Michael Brown
   in August.

   Elsewhere, seven people were arrested in New York during Macy's
   Thanksgiving Day Parade for trying to disrupt the parade to protest the
   grand jury's decision.

   Monday's announcement was followed by two days of unrest and rioting in
   Ferguson that left dozens of buildings damaged or burned.

   The shooting death of 18-year-old Brown by Wilson inflamed tensions in
   Ferguson and raised concerns about police violence and racial
   discrimination in the mostly black St. Louis suburb.

   A grand jury decided Monday there was no probable cause to indict
   Wilson, who says he feared for his life during the confrontation with
   Brown. Wilson told reporters Tuesday that he has a clean conscience
   "because I know I did my job right."

   Brown's family said Wilson acted with malice and he should stand trial.

   Protesters across the country have used the case to highlight similar
   instances in which they say laws are not applied fairly towards African
   Americans. In Los Angeles and Oakland, California, police arrested
   dozens of people for a variety of protest-related charges, but no
   significant violence was reported.

   The U.S. Justice Department is probing possible civil rights abuses in
   the Ferguson shooting. President Barack Obama has called for reflection
   on the difficulties minorities face in the country.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/ferguson-protests-move-to-retailers/2
   537801.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/ferguson-protests-move-to-retailers/2537801.html