Security Stepped Up Ahead of Ferguson Grand Jury Decision

Ferguson, United States: Police stepped up security and erected barricades in St. Louis on Sunday, bracing for the worst with a grand jury to decide whether to indict a white officer for shooting dead an unarmed black teenager.

Michael Brown, 18, a high-school graduate planning to go to technical college, was shot at least six times by Darren Wilson in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson on August 9, inflaming racial tensions and sparking weeks of protests, some violent.

The mostly black suburb of 21,000, which has an overwhelmingly white police force and town government, has been on edge for several days in anticipation of the jury's decision.

Metal interlocking fences and orange plastic barricades sealed off the Buzz Westfall Justice Center in Clayton, another suburb of the city of St. Louis and where the grand jury has been meeting, with a handful of uniformed officers on duty outside.

A police officer unfurled yellow tape saying, "St Louis Police Lines" and "Do Not Cross" around the barricades, watched by a clutch of journalists in the rain.

Five TV satellite trucks were parked outside, although US media has reported no decision is likely this weekend, with the jury expected to reconvene on Monday at the earliest.

Owners have boarded up shops and businesses in the part of Ferguson where protests were concentrated in August, also braced for a violent fallout if the jury does not indict Wilson.


Mother's appeal

Wilson reportedly told the grand jury he acted in self-defense after tussling with the youth. Others say Brown had his hands in the air when he was shot dead, his body left in the street for several hours.

The jury can either indict Wilson, meaning he could face trial for Brown's death, or determine there is no case for him to answer.

Brown's mother Lesley McSpadden on Saturday visited the spot in Ferguson where her son was killed, telling people that she did not want more clashes with police who were criticized for a heavy-handed response to the demonstrations in August.

"I just want y'all to be careful. Don't agitate them, don't let them agitate y'all. I don't want nobody getting hurt," she said.

"We are all willing to do something, but I don't want nobody getting hurt, you see what I'm saying?" she said. "Because when it's time to walk into the courtroom, I want all y'all with me."

US President Barack Obama has also called for calm, Missouri's governor declared a state of emergency and the FBI deployed extra personnel.


'No justice, no peace'

The Brown family lawyer, Benjamin Crump, meanwhile hit out at the grand jury process, saying prosecutors would ordinarily recommend charges but in this case had shifted responsibility to the special jurors.

"It should go to a jury (trial) where it's transparent," he said.

"Why do we accept that when the police kill our children we're just going to have this grand jury proceeding?"

On Saturday night, 15-20 protesters braved the rain to stage a spirited demonstration for around an hour, dancing to the beat of a young drummer, waving a US flag and demanding justice.

"Police don't like it, we want an indictment," they chanted in rhythm. "No justice, no peace," they said.

Cornell William Brooks, president of the civil rights National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), backs non-violent protests.

"We long stood against this kind of violence, we don't want violence, we don't want violent protests done in the name of a violent act, we don't want that."

He criticized the governor for imposing a state of emergency, saying 99 percent of demonstrators on the streets would be peaceful.