Long-standing racial tensions in the United States have flared once again after a night of violence and protests over a Missouri grand jury’s decision not to indict a white policeman who shot dead an unarmed black teen.
Hopes and appeals — including from President Barack Obama — for a peaceful reaction in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson to the decision evaporated quickly after the decision was announced late Monday.
Protesters shot at police, looted stores and set cars and buildings ablaze in what police said was the worst violence since officer Darren Wilson shot dead 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9.
Demonstrations quickly erupted in major US cities, including in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, but those remained largely peaceful.
The shooting death of Brown in August sparked weeks of sometimes violent protests and a nationwide debate about forceful police tactics and race relations in America.
Early Tuesday, an eerie quiet pervaded the streets of Ferguson, with very few people in the streets and a police helicopter buzzing overhead. The riot zone was sealed off.
Missouri officials said they were increasing police presence in the town of Ferguson and vowed to respond swiftly to any further violence.
“You will see a large police presence and when crime starts you’ll see… an intervention much more quickly than we did last night,” police chief Sam Dotson told reporters Tuesday morning.
– Grand jury decision –
Dozens of people were arrested and at least 12 buildings and two police cars were set ablaze Monday as groups of youths roamed the streets looting stores and spreading mayhem.
But no one was killed or seriously hurt and police did not open fire at any point, said St Louis County police chief Jon Belmar.
In New York, two protesters were arrested, including a man who threw red paint at police chief William Bratton.
The Ferguson grand jury concluded that Wilson had acted in self-defense in firing 12 shots at Brown after they got into an “altercation” while the officer investigated a robbery, St Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch said.
A separate federal civil rights investigation into the Wilson incident and Ferguson policing in general will continue, US Attorney General Eric Holder said.
On Tuesday, a lawyer for Brown’s family called the grand jury decision an “indictment on the system.”
“This system always allows police to hurt and kill our children and nothing happens. And we’ve got to change that dynamic,” the attorney, Benjamin Crump, said in an interview on CNN.
In Ferguson, a mainly black town with a mainly white police force, officers were stunned when three months of jury deliberations ended in a spasm of fury.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon called in additional National Guard forces to help restore order.
As McCulloch rounded off his summary of the grand jury’s decision Monday, Brown’s mother burst into tears and a crowd began to chant: “Hey, hey, ho, ho! These killer cops have got to go.”
– Obama appeals for calm –
The family issued a statement calling for peaceful protests after the decision that “profoundly disappointed” them.
Riot officers responded to protesters with tear gas, batons and flash grenades, and running battles broke out, with armored cars moving slowly through the area. An AFP journalist was injured when he was hit in the face with a brick.
Pat Bailey, a retiree from St Louis in her 60s, said she had expected the decision.
“I’ve lived long enough to know that African Americans are not considered human beings,” Bailey said.
Outside the White House in Washington, a crowd waved signs urging the government to “Stop racist police terror.”
Obama made a rapidly-organized televised appearance to appeal for calm, echoing the sentiments of the dead teenager’s family.
“Michael Brown’s parents have lost more than anyone. We should be honoring their wishes,” Obama said.
McCulloch told reporters the evidence presented to the jury had shown that Wilson fired in self-defense during the confrontation with Brown.
He said Wilson was sitting in his patrol car and Brown was at the window when the altercation began. Wilson testified to the jury that Brown leaned into the car and attacked him, grabbing at his gun.
A picture taken after the incident and released by the prosecutor showed Wilson with a very slight bruise to his right cheek.
“During the altercation, two shots were fired by Officer Wilson while still inside the vehicle,” McCulloch said.
Wilson is then said to have left the car to pursue Brown, who at some point turned towards him. Ten shots were fired and the young man was killed, hit six times.
Some witnesses had said in August that Brown had his hands up and was surrendering when he was killed. But McCulloch said the physical evidence and other witnesses contradicted this account.
Ferguson’s African American community of 21,000 has been on edge for days, braced for further protests ahead of the ruling.
Residents complain of years of racial prejudice and heavy handed police tactics.