Demonstrators temporarily shut down three large shopping malls in Missouri on a busy shopping day as rallies were held nationwide to protest a grand jury's recent decision not to indict the white police officer who fatally shot unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Several stores lowered their security doors or locked entrances as at least 200 protesters sprawled onto the floor while chanting, "Stop shopping and join the movement" at the Galleria mall just south of Ferguson, the St. Louis suburb where Brown was killed.
The protest prompted authorities to close the mall for about an hour Friday afternoon, while a similar protest of about 50 people had the same effect at nearby West County Mall. It didn't appear that any arrests were made. Later Friday, the appearance of several dozen demonstrators led to the early closing of the Chesterfield Mall.
The protest was among the largest on Friday, which also saw a large rally in Chicago and smaller ones in California and other cities.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season in the U.S. With retailers offering big discounts. Protesters were using the occasion to keep the attention focused on Brown's death, which has stoked debates nationwide about the tensions between black communities and police.
The grand jury decision, announced Monday, means that officer Darren Wilson will not face state charges in Brown's Aug. 9 shooting death.
The decision prompted violent protests in Ferguson this week that resulted in about a dozen buildings and some cars being burned. Dozens of people were arrested.
The rallies in Ferguson have been ongoing and several protesters were taken into custody during a demonstration outside the police department that had started peacefully.
"We want to really let the world know that it is no longer business as usual," Chenjerai Kumanyika, an assistant professor at Clemson University in South Carolina, said at a rally at a Wal-Mart in Ferguson.
In northern California, more than a dozen people were arrested after about 125 protesters wearing T-shirts that read "Black Lives Matter" interrupted train service from Oakland to San Francisco, with some chaining themselves to trains.
Dozens of people in Seattle blocked streets, and police some protesters also apparently chained doors shut at the nearby Pacific Place shopping center.
