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Protesters in New York and other cities staged a third night of
rallies on Friday, denouncing use of deadly force by police against
minorities, even as prosecutors said they would consider charges
against an officer in the fatal shooting of a unarmed black man in
November.
The slaying of Akai Gurley, 28, gunned down in a dimly lit stairwell
in the New York borough of Brooklyn, was the latest in a string of
lethal police actions feeding U.S. public outrage over what many
perceive as racially based violence by law enforcement.
This week's wave of angry but largely peaceful protests began
Wednesday when a New York grand jury declined to bring charges against
white police officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric
Garner, a black 43-year-old father of six.
Garner, who had no weapon, was being arrested on suspicion of selling
cigarettes illegally in a videotaped confrontation with police on
Staten Island in July.
The decision sparing Pantaleo from prosecution was announced nine days
after a Missouri grand jury chose not to indict a white policeman for
the shooting death in August of an unarmed black teenager in the St.
Louis suburb of Ferguson, spurring two nights of arson and unrest
there.
Then on Thursday in Phoenix, Arizona, another unarmed black man was
shot dead by a white police officer during a scuffle, leading to
protests in that city.
"The government has created a monster and the monster is now loose,"
said Soraya Soi Free, 45, a nurse from the Bronx who has been
protesting in New York.
A wake for Gurley is scheduled for Friday night, with his funeral to
follow on Saturday.
MARCHERS INVADE APPLE STORE
After two nights that saw thousands of demonstrators pour into the
streets and block traffic in Manhattan, Friday's rallies started off
smaller and less confrontational, with hundreds parading boisterously
through a steady rain but sticking to the sidewalks.
In a surprising departure from previous nights, however, a group of
more than a hundred stormed into an Apple Store on Central Park South
and Fifth Avenue, chanting slogans referring to Brown and Garner.
The protesters then staged a brief "die-in," sprawling out on the
floor of the crowded showroom as shoppers and employees watched.
There was no looting or vandalism, and the group left, with no
arrests, after about five minutes.
A short time later, hundreds of demonstrators briefly streamed into a
Macy's department store packed with holiday shoppers on Herald Square,
chanting "Black lives matter" as Christmas tunes played over the
store's sound system.
While most businesses in midtown Manhattan have remained open
throughout the week, some stores have curtailed their hours in
response to the recent unrest.
Representatives of Best Buy Co Inc and Target Corp said the companies
had temporarily closed stores early as a precaution.
Smaller protests were held Thursday night in Chicago, Boston and
Washington, D.C., where marchers echoed demonstrators across the
country, chanting "Hands up, don't shoot," and "I can't breathe."
NEW CASE IN BROOKLYN
Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson said on Friday he will
convene a grand jury to consider charges against the officer who shot
Gurley. Police officials have said the officer, Peter Liang, may have
accidentally discharged his gun.
At a news conference with Gurley's relatives on Friday, Kevin Powell,
the president of the advocacy group BK Nation, called the shooting
part of a "series of modern-day lynchings."
Gurley's mother, Sylvia Palmer, tearfully demanded justice for her son.
In Cleveland on Friday, the family of a 12-year-old boy fatally shot
by police filed a lawsuit against the city, a day after the federal
government found the police department systematically uses excessive
force.
New York police have taken a soft approach to crowd control during
this week's protests, generally allowing marchers to proceed
unhindered as long as they remained peaceful.
Tensions briefly erupted late Thursday in Times Square as a
multiracial crowd of about 3,000 protesters blocked a major
intersection, chanting at police, "Who do you protect?"
Hundreds of officers moved in, shoving protesters onto sidewalks.
A police spokesman said more than 200 were arrested.
Credit: Reuters
