FERGUSON, Aug 22 (AFP): Protests unfolded peacefully Thursday in a Missouri town, and National Guard troops withdrew, 12 days after the fatal police shooting of a black teenager that led to racially-charged unrest.
No serious incidents were reported as several hundred demonstrators defied stifling heat and humidity in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson to demand justice for 18-year-old, college-bound student Michael Brown.
It was the second straight night of generally orderly protest, after previous marches descended into riots, looting and tense stand-offs with police who fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.
"Until we get justice, people are going to continue to march for Mike Brown, and that's just how it should be," said Stephanie Taylor, 28, a nursing assistant who has been coming out almost nightly.
On the residential street when white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Brown at least six times in broad daylight on August 9, hundreds of red roses were carefully arranged in a row.
Families took turns snapping pictures of themselves by a makeshift memorial fashioned out of a traffic cone, a St Louis Cardinals baseball jersey, tall candles and shiny helium balloons.
Teddy bears and a stuffed gorilla toy wrapped the base of a lamp post. A crucifix leaned against a tree, next to a handmade sign that warned of "killer cops" in the area. Rap music echoed from a parking lot.
Police reported five arrests, compared to six on Wednesday and 47 on Tuesday when crowds balked at orders to disperse.
Troops exit, orderly protests unfold in US town
FE Team | Published: August 23, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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