NEW YORK, November 21 (Sputnik) — Protesters are gearing up for demonstrations across the United States this week in anticipation of a decision over whether to bring criminal charges against a white police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager earlier this year.
A state of emergency has been declared and 400 National Guard troops have been deployed to bolster police in Ferguson. A grand jury is expected to decide whether to charge Wilson any day now in an inquiry that hinges on whether the 28-year-old officer fired in self-defense.
Demonstrations are expected in Ferguson, a mostly-black suburb of St Louis of some 21,000 residents, that was riven by often-violent protests after Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, was shot and killed by Wilson as he walked with a friend on a leafy backstreet on August 9.
Protests are also planned in all major US cities on the day of the announcement in a case that has highlighted how the United States continues to struggle with racial tensions after the election of Barack Obama as the country’s first black president.
