As Ferguson Grand Jury Decision Nears, Protests Heat up Nationwide (Live Blog)

The final weekend before the Thanksgiving holiday passed without a grand jury decision on whether to indict a Ferguson police officer, fueling new speculation about the timing of an announcement.
As Ferguson Grand Jury Decision Nears, Protests Heat up Nationwide (Live Blog)
Brittany Ferrell, of St. Louis, chants "hands up don't shoot" while marching through the streets protesting the August shooting of Michael Brown, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2014, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
11/24/2014
Updated:
7/18/2015

People around the country are taking to the streets in anticipation of the Grand Jury’s decision of whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson. It has been 108 days since Wilson shot and killed 18-year-old college student Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, met with reporters earlier today, “Later this evening, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney will announce the grand jury’s decision. While none of us knows what that will be, our shared hope and expectation is that regardless of the decision, people on all sides show tolerance, mutual respect, and restraint.” This comes after the Governors decision last Monday, November 17, to declare a state of emergency and to activate the National Guard.

This seemed like an echo of a statement made by President Obama on Friday, November 21, “First and foremost, keep protests peaceful. This is a country that allows everybody to express their views, allows them to peacefully assemble, to protest actions that they think are unjust, but using any event as an excuse for violence is contrary to rule of law and contrary to who we are.”

Friday also saw the deployment of almost 100 FBI agents and many ATF officers to the Saint Louis area. FBI members allegedly disrupted a bomb plot, arresting two Black Panthers members.

Missouri is not the only state seeing large protests. Currently crowds are gather in many places, including Union Square New York, outside Chicago’s Police Head Quarters.