Thousands march in St Louis area to protest police violence

The mother of an unarmed black teenager shot dead by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, walked with hundreds of protesters on Saturday in the St. Louis suburb, as part of a weekend of demonstrations against police violence. Fresh protests over the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown took place just days after an off-duty officer in the city shot and killed another black teen. Organisers sought to maintain order at rallies which drew thousands of people in the St. Louis area. Michael Brown's mother Lesley McSpadden, whose son died on Aug. 9 when Ferguson officer Darren Wilson shot him after what police described as a physical altercation, walked at the front of an evening rally in the suburb. Protesters have called for the arrest and prosecution of Wilson, and a grand jury is considering the case. McSpadden, who has criticized Ferguson police over her son's death, has only rarely participated in protests. She eventually left the group, which grew to over 1,000 people and went to Ferguson police headquarters, where marchers sat on the ground in silence, according to Reuters.