FERGUSON, MO, AUGUST 20 (RIA Novosti) – Protests over the police killing of an unarmed African-American teenager continued on Tuesday night in Ferguson but without the looting, violence and heavy-handed policing that has characterized previous nights.
Crowds of demonstrators walked in circles through downtown Ferguson in accordance with protest rules as police adopted a less confrontational pose than previously, mostly without putting on their helmets and raising riot shields.
Ferguson, a mostly African-American suburb of St Louis of some 21,000 residents, has been shaken by protests since the police killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed teen, as he walked with a friend on a residential street in the afternoon on August 9.
Missouri National Guard troops have been deployed to tackle the violence, which has grown fiercer as peaceful protesters were joined by looters from California and New York, police said. Law enforcement officers have been criticized for using tear gas, rubber bullets and other heavy-handed measures.
