Protesters paralyse streets in NY as white policeman kills black

NEW YORK, Dec 5, (agencies): Thousands of protesters paralyzed streets in New York  Thursday to condemn police killings of black suspects as details of a new racially tinged death emerged.
It was the second night of rallies in America's largest city of 8.4 million after a grand jury  Wednesday decided not to indict a white officer for the death by chokehold of an unarmed black father-of-six.
National controversy over Eric Garner's death in July and a series of other incidents were fanned further Thursday by a damning US federal investigation which concluded that police in Cleveland routinely employ "excessive force."
In Arizona meanwhile, police said a white officer shot dead a 34-year-old black during a confrontation outside a convenience store.
Phoenix police said the officer involved shot dead Rumain Brisbon after mistakenly believing he was reaching for a gun inside his jacket. In fact he was unarmed.
The killing is the latest of several cases since the death of Garner in New York in July which have triggered a national debate about how minorities are treated by police and the American criminal justice system.
Police shot dead a 12-year-old boy in Cleveland last month while another grand jury last week decided not to prosecute a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri who killed unarmed black teen Michael Brown in August.
Thousands of activists massed in New York's Foley Square, near the city police headquarters shouting "Shut it down" and carrying placards saying "Black Lives Matter" and "Racism Kills."
Police sealed off the Holland Tunnel, the key road link into New Jersey as US media reported that thousands streamed up the west side of Manhattan, clogging streets in downtown Manhattan and shutting traffic on the Manhattan Bridge heading to Brooklyn.
Earlier report adds:  A white police officer shot dead a black man in Arizona when he mistook some pills for a gun, authorities said Thursday, amid protests in New York triggered by a string of similar incidents.
The officer believed the 34-year-old suspect was reaching into his pocket for a gun in the flashpoint Wednesday in Phoenix, in which the man was shot twice in the chest after a struggle.
It was subsequently found that Rumain Brisbon had only pills in his pocket.
Meanwhile:  US President Barack Obama on Friday will name a former Pentagon deputy chief, Ashton Carter, to be his new defense secretary, a White House official said.
If confirmed, Carter would replace Chuck Hagel who announced his resignation last month. Carter served as deputy defense secretary under Leon Panetta from October 2011 to December 2013.
Obama will make the announcement later Friday, joined by both Carter and Hagel, a White House official said on condition of anonymity.
Carter, 60, has gained a reputation as an expert on hi-tech weapons and military budgets, portraying himself as a reformer intent on making the vast Pentagon bureaucracy more efficient.
But he has less experience overseeing war strategy and has never served in uniform, unlike Hagel, who was wounded in the Vietnam War.