LOC09:44
06:44 GMT
WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (KUNA) -- On what is usually the most crowded shopping day of the year, many Black Friday shoppers around the US were met with protesters calling attention to the case of Michael Brown, and the victimization of black people by police.
While the Ferguson protesters were mostly peaceful, their presence and persistent chanting at the St. Louis, Missouri, Galleria Mall led to the shutdown of some stores, as employees feared violence, and police guarded the doors.
The movement was part of #BlackOutBlackFriday, a social media campaign to disrupt a day when retailers hold big sales but make bigger profits, and in accounting terms, "go into the black." The aim was to draw shoppers' attention to social and political issues, instead of the commercially driven holiday.
Protesters also staged a "die-in" at the mall, and demonstrated inside the country's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, where police were already gathered.
On the West Coast, Ferguson protesters delayed trains leaving Oakland, California, by keeping the doors open as they bound their hands together and created a link starting inside the car, and going down and across the platform. Service to San Francisco was completely halted as police forcibly removed the protesters who chanted, "Black Lives Matter."
Meanwhile, protesters in Seattle, Washington, forced all of Westlake Mall to close its doors due to security concerns. One of the organizers of the march, Marissa Johnson, told local media, "America goes where their pocketbook goes, so today we're blocking Black Friday. We want you to be uncomfortable shopping."
Darren Wilson, the white police officer who shot Brown, is leaving the police force due to fears about his own life, his lawyer confirmed to several international news outlets this week. Wilson will be pursuing a different career path, he revealed.
In incidents unrelated to Ferguson on Friday, a shooting in a Chicago department store left one man dead and one woman in critical condition, according to local authorities.
The woman was an employee at Nordstrom, and a domestic-related issue appeared to be the cause of the gunfire, when the man shot her and then shot himself. An investigation is underway.
In Austin, Texas, a man who fired at least 100 rounds at buildings in the downtown area, and tried to torch the Mexican consulate, died of a bullet wound. It remains unclear if he killed himself, or if police shot him.
The 49-year-old suspect is believed to have had political motivations and an anti-immigration stance. He had also fired on federal buildings, including police headquarters. (end)
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