Rocked by nights of rioting and disorder, the town of Ferguson in Missouri, is still
coming to terms with the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown on Saturday.
The unarmed black teenager was shot dead by police in what authorities say was a scuffle
with an officer.
Witnesses said the victim known as Mike was reportedly on his way to his grandmother's
house in St Louis - and was seen with his hands in the air when he was killed.
Vigils have been held in more than 90 cities since the shooting in a show of solidarity.
Well I think it's beautiful that everybody got up here in solidarity. It's like, it's
a good thing to do, it's good to show that we're here, we stand for something and we
all agree we want change.
It's something that shouldn't be expected to happen again, it should just be assumed
that it can't happen again and there should be a plan put forth to teach people about
whatever systematic cultural misunderstandings are leading to these types of conflicts.
The shooting has sparked outrage and fueled underlying racial tensions in Ferguson where
more than 60 per cent of the residents are African-American.
I don't care who it is, me, my friends, whoever it is, we need to come together and show that
we won't allow that to happen. They're killing our young black men every day, and it's almost
like our lives don't have any... I'm going to have a son one day and it's like his life
won't matter.
The town's police force reportedly has just three black officers out of 53. In recent
days, angry locals have marched to the police department headquarters leading to some arrests.
I think it's like a scab being picked constantly and constantly. It's like, these cases happened
so many times. I was at a Sean Bell march when we all marched for him, just a few weeks
ago Eric Garner was killed. There was a young man shot in L.A. two days ago in his back,
and he was an unarmed African American. Over and over and over we see these things happen,
and I think that we become numb to them, we heal and we move on, and with this Mike Brown
thing it was just like, so blatant, so brazen and we're really upset and it calls for something,
even if it means posting on social media, coming to a rally, it's something and when
you feel helpless, you want to just do anything that you possibly can.
A small radio station in Missouri captured the moment protesters and police clashed during
a march in Ferguson. Police fired rubber bullets, tear gas, stun grenades and sent SWAT cars
to break up crowds.
With some protesters retaliating by throwing rocks and reportedly even petrol bombs - questions
have been raised as to why the local authorities are so heavily armed.
The Pentagon says it provides equipment across the country, but it's up to local departments
to enforce the rules.
There is a law enforcement support program that the Defense Department administers which
provides to law enforcement agencies around the country surplus military equipment, gear,
arms, ammunition, vehicles. This is a useful program, that allows for the reuse of military
equipment that otherwise would be disposed of that can be used again by law enforcement
agencies to serve their citizens. So the program serves a purpose. That said, it is up to law
enforcement agencies to speak to how and what they gain through this system, and I'm not
going to inject the Pentagon into this discussion. How this equipment is used to serve local
citizens, again, is up to local law enforcement agencies to speak to.
Ferguson Police have launched an investigation into the teenagers death, which has now been
taken over by the FBI.
President Barack Obama has also promised a full, separate inquiry by the Department of
Justice.