ST LOUIS, MO, August 25 (RIA Novosti) - The protesters rallying against the police killing of an unarmed African-American teen in Ferguson, Missouri, headed to a peace festival in central St Louis on Sunday to hear the address of the parents of another victim of a race-related killing.
The parents of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teenager who was shot dead in 2012, were expected to join the family of Michael Brown, 18, killed by a police officer in Missouri this month, in a rally against police violence downtown Forest Park.
In light of the mass protests in Ferguson and the St Louis area since August 9, when Brown was shot dead Ferguson as he walked with a friend on a leafy backstreet in the afternoon, US President Barack Obama ordered a review of outfitting police with arms and military weapons on Saturday, The New York Times wrote citing senior government officials.
A series of violent protests rolled through Ferguson, with demonstrators accusing 28-year-old white policeman Darren Wilson of killing Brown, including for racial reasons. Ferguson’s African-American residents, which make up 65 percent of the town’s population, had previously complained of racial discrimination on behalf of the local police.
In the recent rallies, police have been criticized for using military tactics, toting assault rifles and using tear gas, rubber bullets and other heavy-handed measures.
The grand jury began the hearing of evidence on the shooting Wednesday and is expected to decide on the possible charges against Wilson by mid-October. The inquiry hinges on whether Wilson fired in self-defense.
