Black Friday sales in New York, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco disrupted by activists angered by jury decision.
Demonstrators have forced the closure a shopping mall near Ferguson
in the US state of Missouri, at the start of the holiday shopping season
as protests over the killing of an unarmed black teen by a white police
officer target some retailers around the country.
After a quiet
Thanksgiving Day, protesters were out in force on Friday to vent their
anger at Monday's decision by a grand jury not to indict Officer Darren
Wilson in the August 9 shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in
the St Louis suburb.
Activists around the country said they were encouraging a boycott of
Black Friday sales to highlight the purchasing power of African
Americans, and to draw links between economic and racial inequality.
The killing of Brown, which has renewed a debate over race relations
in the US and the treatment of blacks and other minorities by police,
has prompted months of sometimes violent protests in Ferguson and
sympathy protests elsewhere.
At the upmarket Galleria near St Louis, demonstrators chanted "No
Black Friday" before singing carols and then briefly lying on the floor,
leading officials to close the mall.
National Guard troops were posted outside, and mall security stopped
anyone from entering, telling disappointed bargain hunters the shopping
centre was shut for the rest of the day.
Ferguson marches
Ferguson itself was peaceful after more than 100 arrests on Monday
and Tuesday, when some demonstrators reacted to the grand jury's
decision by looting or burning businesses, and officers in riot gear
fired tear gas and smoke bombs to disperse crowds.
About 100 protesters marched up and down the road outside the Ferguson police department late on Friday.
As National Guard troops in camouflage and combat helmets looked on,
the crowd chanted: "Soldiers, turn your guns around! Shoot this racist
system down!"
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One Walmart store near Ferguson decided to cancel Black Friday sales,
and merchandise was moved to other locations in the St Louis area,
employees said.
More than 200 people in New York City sought to disrupt shopping on
Friday with a protest in front of the Macy's flagship store in Herald
Square and marched into the ground floor as staff and shoppers looked on
in apparent surprise.
Demonstrators later marched through the streets of New York, and a
police spokesman said officers arrested seven protesters for disorderly
conduct.
Similar protests were staged in other cities, including Chicago,
Seattle and San Francisco and Oakland in California, on Black Friday,
when many retailers offer deep discounts and shoppers traditionally turn
out in droves.
Hundreds of protesters marched through San Francisco's commercial
centre on Friday night packed with shoppers, the Associated Press news
agency said.
KGO-TV said some in the crowd used hammers to smash the windows of
stores in the touristy Union Square. The TV station said crowds marched
through the heart of the shopping district and arrived at the popular
Union Square, where police stopped them from disrupting the lighting of a
Christmas tree.
In Oakland, about 16 people were arrested after chaining themselves
to a train during a demonstration at a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)
rail station, a BART spokeswoman said.
In Los Angeles, where more than 300 people have been arrested in
Ferguson-related demonstrations this week, about 120 protesters marched
through the streets.
copy http://www.aljazeera.com/news/
Ferguson protests target retailers across US
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