Ferguson Marchers Arrive At Missouri Capitol

Protesters march past the governor's mansion in a steady drizzle on the final day of a 7-day march Friday, Dec. 5, 2014, in Jefferson City, Mo.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chants of "Hands Up. Don't Shoot!" echoed through the Missouri Capitol on Friday as hundreds of people protesting Michael Brown's death rallied after the culmination of a weeklong, 130-mile march from the site of the police shooting in Ferguson.

The demonstrators were joined at the Capitol by Brown's mother, who denounced the grand jury decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the Aug. 9 death of her son. She called upon Gov. Jay Nixon to hold the local prosecutor accountable for not taking the case to trial.

The rally was held within earshot of Nixon's office, but he wasn't there. Nixon, who had met with NAACP organizers of the march two days earlier, traveled Friday to an economic development luncheon in Kansas City and a state university in Joplin.

The shooting of the unarmed black 18-year-old who had physically struggled with the white officer has prompted rioting and repeated clashes between protesters and police in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. It's also sparked demonstrations around the nation from people who believe that minorities are too often the targets of overzealous police.

The chant about raised hands has become symbolic of the movement, although there was conflicting witness testimony about whether Brown actually had his hands raised in surrender — or was charging at the officer — when he was fatally shot.

Speaking at the Capitol rally, NAACP President Cornell William Brooks denounced the grand jury process, calling it "completely, morally and legally bankrupt." "We're seeking justice for the family of Michael Brown and nothing less than fundamental, systematic reform of policing in this country," said Brooks, who participated in the march.

The trek began Saturday and remained peaceful, though at times tense. Earlier this week in the rural town of Rosebud, some people opposing the march yelled obscenities at the demonstrators and displayed a Confederate flag.

The number of marchers dwindled at times to a few dozen but swelled to about 100 as they walked in the drizzling rain past the Missouri Governor's Mansion — escorted by police both in the front and rear — and then climbed the state Capitol steps to join others already waiting inside.

Charles Pannell, of Jefferson City, walked the route carrying a cardboard cross with the words "Right 2 Life." Others held "Black Lives Matter" and "We Are Mike Brown" signs. Most of the marchers, but not all, were black and some came from other states to participate.

As their march brought them closer to the Capitol, they chanted, "We are the justice warriors!" Many held their hands up above their heads. Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, thanked the marchers and the NAACP for their support and said they all had watched the legal process "play out unfairly and nontransparent."

"I want him to be held accountable for what he did," McSpadden said, referring to Wilson. As her voice broke with emotion, she added: "Our lives matter." Missouri NAACP President Mary Ratliff said the march was not only meant to protest the grand jury decision but to draw attention to broader racial inequalities.

"We are marching because we feel that injustices are done to African-Americans — the judicial system is biased and unfair, racial profiling is rampant and our young men are dying at an alarming rate," Ratliff told The Associated Press.

Nixon met with Ratliff, Brooks and other NAACP leaders for nearly two hours Wednesday at his office. Maida Coleman, director of Nixon's Office of Community Engagement, said Brooks told Nixon during the meeting that he should promote legislation providing jobs, education and fairness for all people.

The governor did not commit to any particular action, said Coleman, who also attended the meeting. The NAACP leaders met later Friday with Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster. He issued a written statement afterward saying there's common ground "to bring progress" regarding police body cameras, municipal court reforms and minority police officer hires in urban areas.

Follow David A. Lieb at: https://twitter.com/DavidALieb

Police Cases Converge To Stir National Debate

Protesters rally against a grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner in Foley Square, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, in New York.

NEW YORK (AP) — From the White House to the streets of some of America's biggest cities, the New York chokehold case converged with the Ferguson shooting and investigations out of South Carolina and Cleveland to stir a national conversation Thursday about racial justice and police use of force.

A day after a grand jury cleared a white New York City officer in the death of a black man, civil rights leaders pinned their hopes on a promised federal investigation. Demonstrators protested for a second night in New York, carrying replicas of coffins across the Brooklyn Bridge, and turned out in such cities as Denver, Detroit and Minneapolis. And politicians and others talked about the need for better police training, body cameras and changes in the grand jury process to restore faith in the legal system.

"A whole generation of officers will be trained in a new way," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed as he and his police commissioner outlined previously announced plans to teach officers how to communicate better with people on the street.

President Barack Obama weighed in, saying one of the chief issues at stake is "making sure that people have confidence that police and law enforcement and prosecutors are serving everybody equally." Even before the decision in the Eric Garner case came down, racial tensions were running high because of last week's grand jury decision not to charge a white officer in the shooting death of black 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Other cases were added to the mix on Thursday: — In the tiny South Carolina town of Eutawville, a white former police chief was charged with murder in the 2011 shooting of an unarmed black man. Richards Combs' lawyer accused prosecutors of taking advantage of national outrage toward police to obtain the indictment more than three years after the killing.

 In Cleveland, the U.S. Justice Department and the city reached an agreement to overhaul the police department after federal investigators found that officers use excessive force far too often, causing deep mistrust, especially among blacks. The investigation was prompted chiefly by a 2012 police ar chase that ended in the deaths of two unarmed people in a hail of 137 bullets.

Just last week, protesters took to the streets of Cleveland after a white police officer shot and killed a black 12-year-old boy carrying what turned out to be pellet gun. At a news conference in New York after a night of protests led to 83 arrests, the Rev. Al Sharpton called the state-level grand jury system "broken" when it comes to police brutality cases and urged federal authorities to fix it.

"The federal government must do in the 21st century what it did in the mid-20th century," he said. "Federal intervention must come now and protect people from state grand juries." Still, federal civil rights cases against police officers are exceedingly rare.

In the past two decades, only a few such cases have reached trial in New York — most notably the one involving Abner Louima, who was sodomized with a broom handle in a police station in 1997. Several other high-profile cases didn't come together.

That's largely because federal prosecutors must meet a high standard of proof in showing that police deliberately deprived victims of their civil rights through excessive force, said Alan Vinegrad, who as a federal prosecutor handled the Louima case.

Federal intervention "doesn't happen often and it shouldn't happen often," said James Jacobs, a constitutional law professor at New York University Law School. "They should only step in when the local prosecution was a sham."

Activists have claimed that the grand jury investigation of Garner's death was indeed a sham. An amateur video showed Officer Daniel Pantaleo putting Garner in an apparent chokehold, and the medical examiner said the maneuver contributed to the death.

But Pantaleo's attorney, Stuart London, expressed confidence Thursday that his client won't face federal prosecution. "There's very specific guidelines that are not met in this case," London said. "This is a regular street encounter. It doesn't fall into the parameters."

Acting at the Staten Island district attorney's request, a judge released a few details Thursday from the grand jury proceedings — among other things, it watched four videos and heard from 50 witnesses, 22 of them civilians. District Attorney Daniel Donovan didn't ask for testimony, transcripts or exhibits to be made public.

But London offered some details, saying the officer's testimony focused on "his remorse and the fact that he never meant to harm Mr. Garner that day." Pantaleo admitted he heard Garner say, "I can't breathe," but believed that once he got him down on the ground and put him on his side, he would be revived by paramedics, London said. The officer also testified that he "used a takedown move and any contact to the neck was incidental," the lawyer added.

London said the grand jury also heard from other officers who described how Pantaleo had tried in vain to talk Garner into complying with them — something not seen on video. "Let's make this easy. You've been through this before," the officer said he told Garner.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the Garner case and others like it around the country have a "corrosive" effect and cause many to lose faith in the criminal justice system.

Associated Press writers Karen Matthews and Jonathan Lemire in New York and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

Ferguson Grand Jury Papers Full Of Inconsistencies

Protesters demonstrate on the steps of the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014. 

FERGUSON, MO. (AP) — Some witnesses said Michael Brown had been shot in the back. Another said he was face-down on the ground when Officer Darren Wilson "finished him off." Still others acknowledged changing their stories to fit published details about the autopsy or admitted that they did not see the shooting at all.

An Associated Press review of thousands of pages of grand jury documents reveals numerous examples of statements made during the shooting investigation that were inconsistent, fabricated or provably wrong. For one, the autopsies ultimately showed Brown was not struck by any bullets in his back.

Prosecutors exposed these inconsistencies before the jurors, which likely influenced their decision not to indict Wilson in Brown's death. Bob McCulloch, the St. Louis County prosecutor, said the grand jury had to weigh testimony that conflicted with physical evidence and conflicting statements by witnesses as it decided whether Wilson should face charges.

"Many witnesses to the shooting of Michael Brown made statements inconsistent with other statements they made and also conflicting with the physical evidence. Some were completely refuted by the physical evidence," McCulloch said.

The decision Monday not to charge Wilson with any crime set off more violent protests in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson and around the country, fueled by claims that the unarmed black 18-year-old was shot while surrendering to the white officer in the mostly African-American city.

What people thought were facts about the Aug. 9 shooting have become intertwined with what many see as abuses of power and racial inequality in America. And media coverage of the shooting's aftermath made it into the grand jury proceedings. Before some witnesses testified, prosecutors showed jurors clips of the same people making statements on TV.

Their inconsistencies began almost immediately after the shooting, from people in the neighborhood, the friend walking with Brown during the encounter and even one woman who authorities suggested probably wasn't even at the scene at the time.

Jurors also were presented with dueling versions from Wilson and Dorian Johnson, who was walking with Brown during the Aug. 9 confrontation. Johnson painted Wilson as provoking the violence, while Wilson said Brown was the aggressor.

But Johnson also declared on TV, in a clip played for the grand jury, that Wilson fired at least one shot at his friend while Brown was running away: "It struck my friend in the back." Johnson held to a variation of this description in his grand jury testimony, saying the shot caused Brown's body to "do like a jerking movement, not to where it looked like he got hit in his back, but I knew, it maybe could have grazed him, but he definitely made a jerking movement."

Other eyewitness accounts also were clearly wrong. One woman, who said she was smoking a cigarette with a friend nearby, claimed she saw a second police officer in the passenger seat of Wilson's vehicle. When quizzed by a prosecutor, she elaborated: The officer was white, "middle age or young" and in uniform. She said she was positive there was a second officer — even though there was not.

Another woman testified that she saw Brown leaning through the officer's window "from his navel up," with his hand moving up and down, as if he were punching the officer. But when the same witness returned to testify again on another day, she said she suffers from mental disorder, has racist views and that she has trouble distinguishing the truth from things she had read online.

Prosecutors suggested the woman had fabricated the entire incident and was not even at the scene the day of the shooting. Another witness had told the FBI that Wilson shot Brown in the back and then "stood over him and finished him off." But in his grand jury testimony, this witness acknowledged that he had not seen that part of the shooting, and that what he told the FBI was "based on me being where I'm from, and that can be the only assumption that I have."

The witness, who lives in the predominantly black neighborhood where Brown was killed, also acknowledged that he changed his story to fit details of the autopsy that he had learned about on TV. "So it was after you learned that the things you said you saw couldn't have happened that way, then you changed your story about what you seen?" a prosecutor asserted.

"Yeah, to coincide with what really happened," the witness replied. Another man, describing himself as a friend of Brown's, told a federal investigator that he heard the first gunshot, looked out his window and saw an officer with a gun drawn and Brown "on his knees with his hands in the air." He added: "I seen him shoot him in the head."

But when later pressed by the investigator, the friend said he had not seen the actual shooting because he was walking down the stairs at the time and instead had heard details from someone in the apartment complex.

"What you are saying you saw isn't forensically possible based on the evidence," the investigator told the friend. Shortly after that, the friend asked if he could leave. "I ain't feeling comfortable," he said.

Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman, Catherine Lucey, Nomaan Merchant, Garance Burke, Jeff Donn, David B. Caruso and Paul Weber contributed to this report.

An updated interactive about the Ferguson grand jury is available here: http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2014/ferguson-shooting/

Obama Appeals For Calm After Ferguson Decision

A crowd, consisting of students from Howard University and others, gather in front of the White House, Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, in Washington, after the Ferguson grand jury decided not to indict police officer Darren Wilson.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama appealed for calm and understanding in Ferguson on Monday after a grand jury decided not to indict in the death of Michael Brown, pleading with both residents and police officers to show restraint.

"We are a nation built on the rule of law, so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make," Obama said. In a late-night statement from the White House, Obama said it was understandable that some Americans would be "deeply disappointed — even angered" that police officer Darren Wilson wasn't indicted. Yet he echoed Brown's parents in calling for any protests to be peaceful, saying that their wishes should be honored as they grieve their son.

At the same time, Obama sought to dispel the notion that race relations have deteriorated, the protests in Ferguson notwithstanding. He called for Americans to turn their attention to ways to bring police and their communities closer together.

"That won't be done by throwing bottles. That won't be done by smashing car windows. That won't be done by using this as an excuse to vandalize property," Obama said. "It certainly won't be done by hurting anybody."

Yet the scene playing out in suburban Missouri, just minutes after the grand jury's announcement, stood in stark contrast to Obama's calls for calm. As Obama spoke live from the White House briefing room, television networks showed Obama on one side of the screen, and violent demonstrations in Ferguson on the other.

Police said protesters smashed windows, vandalized police cars and threw rocks at authorities as anger erupted after the announcement Monday night that Wilson, a white officer, wouldn't be indicted for shooting Brown. The death of the unarmed, black 18-year-old in August sparked weeks of protests that authorities feared would be revived after the grand jury's decision was handed down.

Outside the White House, a few hundred people protested peacefully, holding up signs reading "Justice for Michael Brown" and chanting "Hands up, don't shoot" — a refrain that's become a rallying cry in Ferguson since Brown's death.

"This is not just an issue for Ferguson, this is an issue for America," Obama said. "There are still problems, and communities of color aren't just making this up." Obama, who has faced repeated calls to visit Ferguson, said he would "take a look" at whether such a visit would now be wise. The Justice Department is conducting a separate investigation into possible civil rights violations that could result in federal charges. Attorney General Eric Holder called Brown's death a "tragedy" and said federal investigators were taking pains not to jump to conclusions.

"While constructive efforts are under way in Ferguson and communities nationwide, far more must be done to create enduring trust," Holder said. The uproar sparked by Brown's death has challenged Obama to find constructive, measured ways to address the deep racial tensions exposed by the incident without alienating law enforcement or casting undue blame amid ongoing investigations.

In 2012, Obama spoke passionately after the death of teenager Trayvon Martin, telling the public that "if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon." But the circumstances in Ferguson were different, with a police officer claiming self-defense, and Obama has sought to avoid inflaming racial divisions.

In his remarks on Monday, Obama urged the country to channel its frustration in ways that would be constructive, not destructive. He said within his own life, he had witnessed "enormous progress" on race.

"To deny that progress, I think, is to deny America's capacity for change," Obama said.

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Fires Burn In Ferguson, Gunshots Heard In Streets

Lesley McSpadden, second from right, Michael Brown's mother, is comforted outside the Ferguson police department as St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch conveys the grand jury's decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson

FERGUSON, MO. (AP) — Flames engulfed at least a dozen businesses in Ferguson early Tuesday and gunfire kept firefighters at bay after protests over the decision not to indict a police officer in Michael Brown's death turned violent, despite pleas for peace from Brown's family and others.

Protesters smashed windows out of police cars and buildings, several of which were later looted and set ablaze, and officers lobbed tear gas from inside armored vehicles to disperse crowds in scenes reminiscent of the early days of unrest that followed the Aug. 9 shooting.

But the violence that followed Monday's decision to not indict Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, in the death of the unarmed black 18-year-old quickly took a more destructive turn — a storage facility, two auto parts stores, a beauty supply store and pizza shop were just some of the businesses that burned.

An Associated Press photographer saw firefighters arrive at one scene only to be turned back by gunfire. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said during an early morning news conference that he "personally heard about 150 shots fired" during the course of the night, but said police did not fire a shot. He said most of at least a dozen burned businesses were "total losses" and noted two police cars were "basically melted."

"I don't think we were underprepared," Belmar said. "But I'll be honest with you, unless we bring 10,000 policemen in here, I don't think we can prevent folks who really are intent on destroying a community."

Smashed window glass littered the sidewalks around many other businesses, from mom-and-pop shops to a McDonalds along the main drag. The Ferguson Market — where surveillance video had recorded Brown stealing cigars minutes before he was killed — was ransacked.

At least one building and several vehicles in a used car lot also burned in the neighboring city of Dellwood. The vast majority of protesters had left the streets by late Monday, but looting and gunfire still were reported well after midnight.

Hundreds of people had gathered outside the Ferguson Police Department ahead of St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch's news conference to announce the grand jury's decision. As McCulloch read his statement, a crowd gathered around a car from which the news conference was broadcast on a stereo. Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, sat atop the car. When the decision was announced, she burst into tears and began screaming before being whisked away by supporters.

A short time later, Brown's family issued a statement asking people to keep their protests peaceful, echoing pleas they had issued several times in the days and weeks leading up to the decision. "Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction," the statement said.

But some protesters overran barricades and taunted police. Some chanted "murderer" and others threw rocks and bottles. The windows of a police car were smashed and protesters tried to topple it before it was set on fire, though some in the crowd tried to stop others from taking part in the violence.

Officers responded by firing what authorities said was smoke and pepper spray into the crowd. St. Louis County Police later confirmed tear gas also was used.

No Charges In Ferguson Case; Chaos Fills Streets

7Ferguson Market and Liquor store is vandalized after the announcement of the grand jury decision Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. A grand jury has decided not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.

FERGUSON, MO. (AP) — A grand jury declined Monday to indict white police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed, black 18-year-old whose fatal shooting sparked weeks of sometimes-violent protests and inflamed deep racial tensions between many African-Americans and police.

Moments after the announcement by St. Louis County's top prosecutor, crowds began pouring into Ferguson streets to protest the decision. Some taunted police, broke windows and vandalized cars. Within a few hours, several large buildings were ablaze, and frequent gunfire was heard. Officers used tear gas to try to disperse some of the gatherings.

Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said the jury of nine whites and three blacks met on 25 separate days over three months, hearing more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses, including three medical examiners and experts on blood, toxicology and firearms.

"They are the only people that have heard and examined every witness and every piece of evidence," he said, adding that the jurors "poured their hearts and soul into this process." As McCulloch read his statement, Michael Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, sat atop a vehicle listening to a broadcast of the announcement. When she heard the decision, she burst into tears and began screaming before being whisked away by supporters.

The crowd with her erupted in anger, converging on the barricade where police in riot gear were standing. They pushed down the barricade and began pelting police with objects, including a bullhorn. Officers stood their ground.

At least nine votes would have been required to indict Wilson. The grand jury met in secret, a standard practice for such proceedings. Speaking for nearly 45 minutes, a defensive McCulloch repeatedly cited what he said were inconsistencies and erroneous accounts from witnesses. When asked by a reporter whether any of the accounts amount to perjury, he said, "I think they truly believe that's what they saw, but they didn't."

The prosecutor also was critical of the media, saying "the most significant challenge" for his office was a "24-hour news cycle and an insatiable appetite for something — for anything — to talk about."

In his statement, McCulloch never mentioned that Brown was unarmed when he was killed. Brown's family released a statement saying they were "profoundly disappointed" in the decision but asked that the public "channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change. We need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen."

Shortly after the announcement, authorities released more than 1,000 pages of grand jury documents, including Wilson's testimony. Wilson told jurors that he initially encountered Brown and a friend walking in a street and, when he told them to move to a sidewalk, Brown responded with an expletive.

Wilson then noticed that Brown had a handful of cigars, "and that's when it clicked for me," he said, referring to a radio report minutes earlier of a robbery at a nearby convenience store. Wilson said he asked a dispatcher to send additional police, then backed his vehicle up in front of Brown and his friend. As he tried to open the door, Wilson said Brown slammed it back shut.

The officer said he then pushed Brown with the door and Brown hit him in the face. Wilson told grand jurors he was thinking: "What do I do not to get beaten inside my car." "I drew my gun," Wilson told the grand jury. "I said, "Get back or I'm going to shoot you."

"He immediately grabs my gun and says, "You are too much of a pussy to shoot me," Wilson told grand jurors. He said Brown grabbed the gun with his right hand, twisted it and "digs it into my hip." Asked why he felt the need to pull his gun, Wilson told grand jurors he was concerned another punch to his face could "knock me out or worse."

After shots were fired in the vehicle, Brown fled, and Wilson gave chase. At some point, Brown turned around to face the officer. Witness accounts were conflicted about whether Brown walked, stumbled or charged back toward Wilson before he was fatally wounded, McCulloch said. There were also differing accounts of how or whether Brown's hands were raised. His body fell about 153 feet from Wilson's vehicle.

Thousands of people rallied in other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and New York, to protest Monday's decision, leading marches, waving signs and shouting chants of "Hands Up! Don't Shoot," the slogan that has become a rallying cry in protests over police killings across the country.

President Barack Obama appealed for calm and understanding, pleading with both protesters and police to show restraint. "We are a nation built on the rule of law, so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make," Obama said. He said it was understandable that some Americans would be "deeply disappointed — even angered," but echoed Brown's parents in calling for any protests to be peaceful.

Monday night's violence initially resembled the unrest during the days that followed Brown's death, when business windows were smashed and police vehicles damaged. But the destruction soon widened, with several large fires burning out of control and reports of frequent gunfire.

At least 10 St. Louis-bound flights were diverted to other airports because of concern about gunfire being aimed into the sky over Ferguson. Only law-enforcement aircraft were permitted to fly through the area, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The Justice Department is conducting a separate investigation into possible civil rights violations that could result in federal charges, but investigators would need to satisfy a rigorous standard of proof in order to mount a prosecution. The department also has launched a broad probe into the Ferguson Police Department, looking for patterns of discrimination.

Regardless of the outcome of those investigations, Brown's family could also file a wrongful-death lawsuit against Wilson. The Aug. 9 shooting heightened tensions in the predominantly black St. Louis suburb that is patrolled by an overwhelmingly white police force. As Brown's body lay for hours in the center of a residential street, an angry crowd of onlookers gathered. Rioting and looting occurred the following night, and police responded with armored vehicles and tear gas.

Protests continued for weeks — often peacefully, but sometimes turning violent, with demonstrators throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails and police firing smoke canisters, tear gas and rubber bullets. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon briefly summoned the National Guard.

Throughout the investigation, some black leaders and Brown's parents questioned McCulloch's ability to be impartial. The prosecutor's father, mother, brother, uncle and cousin all worked for the St. Louis Police Department, and his father was killed while responding to a call involving a black suspect in 1964.

McCulloch was 12 at the time, and the killing became a hallmark of his initial campaign for elected prosecutor. A Democrat, McCulloch has been in office since 1991 and was re-elected to another term earlier this month.

Link to grand jury documents: http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_documents/ferguson-shooting/ .

Associated Press writers Alan Scher Zagier in Clayton, Andale Gross and Jim Suhr in Ferguson and Catherine Lucey in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report. Follow David A. Lieb at: https://twitter.com/DavidALieb .