Ferguson erupts in violence after ruling

Nov 25, 2014

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Protesters protest on the street in Ferguson, Missouri, the United States, on Nov. 23, 2014, pending the Grand Jury's decision on whether to charge the police officer killing unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9. (Xinhua/Shen Ting)(bxq) — Protesters protest on the street in Ferguson, Missouri, the United States, on Nov. 23, 2014, pending the Grand Jury’s decision on whether to charge the police officer killing unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9. (Xinhua/Shen Ting)(bxq)

Violence erupted in the US city of Ferguson after the announcement that police officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted for shooting to death unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Two police cars were set on fire Monday night and gunshots rang throughout the night as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters.

Chaos reigned in the streets with shop windows smashed, and what sounded like live ammunition and tear-gas rounds, Xinhua reported.

Riot police tried twice to secure the site of the two burning police cars but failed to eliminate all stragglers.

Police detained two men, a white and a black, both wearing masks, telling them they were under arrest for arson.

Police were seen interrupting media interviews around the site, pushing and shoving journalists who did not move fast enough to escape their lines.

Protesters in front of the police station were angry but generally peaceful, and there were no mass displays of violence, but there were incidents where protesters threw Molotov cocktails at police and media.

Michael, one of the protesters, told Xinhua that the “verdict wasn’t fair… he (Michael Brown) was unarmed”.

The protests are expected to continue throughout the week and protesters have a scheduled protest rally in a white neighbourhood Tuesday at 7 a.m.

Protesters in masks protest on the street near the Ferguson Police Station in Ferguson, Missouri, the United States, on Nov. 23, 2014, pending the Grand Jury's decision on whether to charge the police officer killing unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9. — Protesters in masks protest on the street near the Ferguson Police Station in Ferguson, Missouri, the United States, on Nov. 23, 2014, pending the Grand Jury’s decision on whether to charge the police officer killing unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9.

US President Barack Obama has called for peace after a grand jury decided not to indict a Ferguson police officer in Michael Brown shooting death case.

“We are a nation built on the rule of law, and so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury’s to make,” Xinhua quoted from a White House statement Monday.

He said anger is an understandable reaction but violence is not the answer.

On Tuesday, protests were held in New York, Chicago and in front of the White House here against the decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson.

While most of the protesters peacefully assembled on the streets of Ferguson, some of them smashed windows of a police cruiser and tried to overturn it, CNN reported Tuesday.

Police responded by lobbing tear-gas shells.

Michael Brown was shot dead by a policeman Aug 9 this year in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St.Louis.