FERGUSON, MO, AUGUST 21 (RIA Novosti) – US Attorney General Eric Holder said eyes around the “world are watching Ferguson right now” during his visit to the city aimed at easing tensions in the suburb that has been rocked by protests over the police killing of an unarmed African-American teenager.
“The eyes of the nation and the world are watching Ferguson right now,” Holder said at talks with public figures on Wednesday in Ferguson, which has endured race protests since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed on August 9.
“The world is watching because the issues raised by the shooting of Michael Brown predate this incident. This is something that has a history to it and the history simmers beneath the surface in more communities than just Ferguson,” Holder stressed.
Demonstrators moved from the downtrodden suburb of Ferguson to St. Louis County prosecutor's office on Wednesday, where they rallied against tardiness in the charging of the police officer responsible for the shooting.
Ferguson, a mostly African-American suburb of St Louis with some 21,000 residents, has been shaken by protests and looting since Brown’s killing. Some 50 protestors were arrested on Tuesday during late-night demonstrations.
Missouri National Guard troops have been deployed to tackle the violence, which has grown fiercer as peaceful protestors were joined by looters from California and New York. Law enforcers have been criticized for using tear gas, rubber bullets and other heavy-handed measures.
