The outrage over the grand jury’s decision not to indict the police officer that shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, has ignited a firestorm of protests across the country.
CNN reports that the national furor isn’t just about one grand jury’s decision on one shooting case. To many protesters, the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown — and the lack of an indictment for the officer who shot him — are symbolic of racial injustice in America.
“I think that it’s important for people to know that the decision not to indict (Officer) Darren Wilson means that the system does not value black lives,” one protester marching through Los Angeles told CNN.
“I think that it means that a cop can kill a black or brown kid when he’s defenseless and unarmed and not get charged. I think that it means that we either fight back and stand up and end police terrorism.”
More than 170 protests sprouted up across the country Tuesday. Some crowds blocked bridges, tunnels and major highways. But unlike the violence that erupted in Ferguson on Monday night, most of the demonstrations were peaceful.
In New York, a protesters spanning an array of races and ages filled Times Square with their hands up, some chanting, “Don’t shoot.” In Washington, a crowd including prep school students lay silently on a sidewalk, as if dead. And in Boston, even jail inmates joined in the protest silently from a window.
