Brown Ferguson: Jury decision Not To Charge Sparks Riot
A US grand jury has
decided not to charge a police officer over the fatal shooting of
unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
State prosecutor Robert
McCulloch said the jury had exhaustively examined the evidence but Mr
Brown's family said they were "profoundly disappointed".
News of the ruling sparked the worst night of rioting yet in Ferguson.
Shots were fired and cars and buildings set alight as police fired tear gas to break up the crow of protesters.
Ferguson decision: A timeline of events
Police officer Darren
Wilson shot dead Michael Brown, 18, in the St Louis suburb on 9 August.
There followed nights of rioting in Ferguson and protests across
America.
President Barack Obama
joined the teenager's family on Monday in appealing for calm, urging
Americans to accept the decision was "the grand jury's to make''.
The case has stoked
racial tensions in the US, where many in the African American community
called for Mr Wilson to be charged with murder.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool reports seeing more vandalism and looting after the ruling than on any night in August.
The jury's decision was
announced on Monday. Hundreds of protesters milled around the police
department in Ferguson, following the news on radios and mobile phones.
Explaining the decision, Mr McCulloch said the jury's job had been to separate fact from fiction, and
State prosecutor Bob McCulloch: No "probable cause" for indictment
"These grand jurors poured their hearts and soul into this process," he said.
Protesters have been
chanting, "Hands up, don't shoot" - a reference to statements by some
witnesses who said Mr Brown had had his hands up in apparent surrender
to the officer when he was shot.
Police say there was a struggle between the teenager and the officer before the shooting.
In his own testimony, Mr
Wilson says that before the shooting Mr Brown pushed him back into his
car, hit him and briefly grabbed his drawn gun.
The jury was made up of 12 randomly picked citizens - nine white and three black.
At least nine votes were needed in order to issue an indictment.
Mr McCulloch said the
biggest challenge for his office was the "24-hour news cycle and an
insatiable appetite for something - for anything - to talk about".
After the announcement,
Mr Brown's family issued a statement saying they were "profoundly
disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence
of his actions".
Shortly afterwards shots
were fired, and protesters were seen vandalising police cars, at least
one of which was set on fire. Police responded with smoke and tear gas.
Firefighters tackled a
large blaze and heavy black smoke at a retail building, with reports of a
pharmacy and a pizza shop also on fire.
Several other buildings were broken into and looted.
The Federal Aviation Authority said it was restricting the path of some flights into St Louis amid the unrest. - BBC
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