Protesters gather at America's biggest shopping mall

WASHINGTON DC - Hundreds of demonstrators filed into America's largest shopping mall Saturday as part of an ongoing wave of protests against racially charged police violence, interrupting one of the holidays' busiest shopping days.

Protesters gathered at the Mall of America, in Bloomington in the Midwestern state of Minnesota, and held up signs with slogans such as "Black Lives Matter," which has become a rallying cry for nationwide demonstrations against police.

Photos posted on Twitter showed dozens of demonstrators -- including several shopkeepers -- placing their hands in the air. The gesture is a tribute to Michael Brown, a black teen killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Some witnesses claim Brown had his hands in the air when he was shot on August 9. His death and the subsequent grand jury decision not to charge the officer involved touched off weeks of nationwide protests over what demonstrators say is the police's disproportionate use of deadly force against African Americans.

According to the Mall of America protest's Facebook page, more than 3,000 people said they would attend the demonstration. Photos posted on social media showed throngs of people gathered across several levels of the sprawling shopping center, with more outside.

Police and mall security were quick to respond, but there were no immediate reports of arrests, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper.

Several protesters tweeted an image of a mall information screen warning people they faced arrest.

"This demonstration is in clear violation of mall of America policy," the warning read. "Those who continue to demonstrate are subject to arrest."

Most protesters appeared to have dispersed by mid-afternoon.

The grand jury decision last month not to indict police officer Darren Wilson over Brown's death was followed by a similar grand jury verdict that declined to charge another white policeman in the "chokehold" death in Staten Island of Eric Garner, a black father of six.

These and other deaths, including that of 12-year-old Tamir Rice -- shot dead by Cleveland police as he brandished a toy gun -- have unleashed simmering resentment of police tactics in the United States and highlighted uneasy relations between black men and law enforcement officials.

The Mall of America sees some 40 million visitors annually and is an important tourist draw for Minnesota, according to the mall's website.

It would take a shopper 86 hours to visit all the shops in the mall if they spent 10 minutes in each shop.

source: interaksyon.com

Calm comes to Ferguson on Thanksgiving

FERGUSON, Mo. -- A peaceful Ferguson came together Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving and recover from violent protests that erupted when a police officer was not charged in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager.

Armed National Guard troops and humvees with US flags hoisted on their antennae at the shopping mall and boarded-up stores were the only outward sign of the turbulence of recent days.

There were no protesters or police on the streets of the St Louis suburb, which reeled from Monday's decision by a Missouri grand jury not to charge a white policeman who shot dead 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9.

Residents kept out of the cold, spending the holiday with friends and family, attending church services and beautifying boarded-up stores.

"I believe God enough to know we will rebuild," said Reverend Carlton Lee, the pastor at Flood Christian Church, which was burnt beyond repair during the violence on Monday.

He spoke at a service at the nearby Wellspring Church, saying he had received death threats and was devastated to watch the building go up in flames.

But life would carry on, Lee said.

Sunday service will be held in a heated tent in the parking lot and the church, where Brown's father reportedly worshipped, set up an online appeal for $50,000 to rebuild. So far, it has attracted $2,000.

Free turkey and pumpkin pie

Wellspring offered a free traditional Thanksgiving lunch of turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and pumpkin pie to members of the community and a diverse group of Christians from nearby parishes who came to express support.

"We do this every year but right now with the Ferguson unrest, it just brings the community together," said volunteer server Rhonda Johnson.

"The important thing is for people who have been to Ferguson, and who have shopped in Ferguson, and who have been part of Ferguson, to keep doing that," said fellow volunteer and local journalist Alvin Reid.

Anger over the grand jury verdict and Brown's killing is still palpable, and protesters have all vowed to continue demonstrating until justice is served.

"I don't know what's going to happen, I really don't. I think time heals all wounds but how much time it's going to take, I don't know," said Reid.

Many say they can never accept the grand jury decision that Officer Darren Wilson shot Brown in lawful self-defense after an altercation. In total, 12 shots were fired.

Wellspring pastor Willis Johnson said the community still felt great disappointment and mistrust, but was quietly optimistic that healing would come.

"We thought more than anything that people needed to come out and come together," Johnson told AFP as diners tucked into lunch. "It was imperative."

His church has provided medical respite, counseling and help to members of the community traumatized by the decision and the unrest.

'People were helped'
"Monday was very, very hectic at times for the staff -- very frightening because of the large crowds and the activity outside," Johnson said.

"We saw the movement of the masses past our church, we heard the gunshots," he said. For a period, he could not get into the area because of a lockdown.

"It was a very stressful time but a lot of people were helped," he said.

Down the road, families and children painted cheery scenes on the boarded-up windows of a row of shops before going home for Thanksgiving dinner.

"UNLESS someone LIKE YOU cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better," they painted next to a festive scene on a dental practice.

On a Chinese restaurant, children were painting a dragon.

"Seeing all this plywood was making us feel pretty down about it and putting the paint on there is just going to do something better," said Lou Bailey, 37, a project manager for a large company.

He said a home-school group of 10 families had swapped lessons for community work in recent days, sweeping away broken glass and beautifying shop fronts.

"Maybe ... here in the community we can rebuild relationships and create lasting friendships, which in turn is going to change a lot in the long run," he said.

source: interaksyon.com

Ferguson police come under gunfire, arrest 31 in racial unrest

FERGUSON - U.S. police said early on Tuesday they came under heavy gunfire and arrested 31 people during another night of racially charged protests in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked by the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman 10 days ago.

Demonstrations, mostly peaceful but with spasms of violence by smaller groups, have flared since Michael Brown, 18, was shot dead while walking down a residential street on August 9.

State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson, briefing reporters on Monday's night's violence, said "our officers came under heavy gunfire" in one area.

"Not a single bullet was fired by officers despite coming under heavy attack," he told a news conference. Riot police had confiscated two guns from protesters and what looked like a petrol bomb. Four officers had been injured.

Johnson separately told CNN that two people were shot within the crowd, but not by police, and were taken to hospital. There was no immediate word on their condition.

The violence has captured headlines around the world, raising questions about the state of U.S. race relations nearly six years after Americans elected their first black president.

"This has to stop. I don't want anybody to get hurt. We have to find a way to stop this," said Johnson, an African-American who grew up in the area and who took over security efforts after the mostly white local force was accused of using excessive force against blacks.

An overnight curfew has been imposed and the National Guard, the U.S. state militia, has been deployed in the St. Louis suburb of 21,000 people to stop looting and burning that have punctuated the protests.

President Barack Obama and civil rights leaders have appealed for calm while a federal investigation into the shooting proceeds.

"While I understand the passions and the anger that arise over the death of Michael Brown, giving in to that anger by looting or carrying guns, and even attacking the police, only serves to raise tensions and stir chaos," Obama told a news conference on Monday (Tuesday in the Philippines).

source: interaksyon.com