Ferguson Protests Continue to Target Black Friday

Holiday shopping interrupted at major retailers near St. Louis, other areas
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 28, 2014 12:28 PM CST
Ferguson Protests Continue to Target Black Friday
Protesters of the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown shooting chant slogans at the St. Louis Galleria mall on Nov. 26, 2014, in Richmond Heights, Mo.   (J.B. Forbes)

Protesters continue to interrupt holiday shopping at major retailers around the St. Louis area today to speak out about a grand jury's decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown. About two dozen people chanted "no justice, no peace, no racist police" and "no more Black Friday" early today after police moved them out of a Walmart in Manchester, a St. Louis suburb. Officers warned the protesters they risked arrest if they didn't move at least 50 feet from the store's entrance, then began advancing in unison until the protesters moved further into the parking lot. The mostly black group of protesters chanted in the faces of the officers—most of whom were white—as shoppers watched. "We want to really let the world know that it is no longer business as usual," an assistant professor at Clemson University tells the AP.

Security was heightened at the Wal-Mart in Ferguson on Friday morning, with military Humvees, police cars, and security guards on patrol; the store was busy, but there were no protesters. At a shopping center in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, a dozen people gathered and chanted "Black lives matter." A group of about 30 people rode a bus from New York to join in the St. Louis-area protests. The group normally focuses on "earth justice" issues, but planned "to stand in solidarity with some of the Michal Brown protesters," a participant tells the AP. Other Black Friday protests were also planned in shopping centers around the nation. In Brooklyn, NY, however, a "Hands Up, Don't Shop" protest had been scheduled, but no one materialized. (More Ferguson, Missouri stories.)

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