Ferguson Protests - A police officer from University City reportedly got shot in the arm during one of the violent protests that erupted in Ferguson. The Ferguson protests happened in the wake of the grand jury's Monday decision of not indicting Darren Wilson, a white officer who shot and killed an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson Aug. 9.
The shooting of the University City officer occurred at Canton Avenue and Lamb Avenue. The officer has been taken to an area hospital and is in stable condition, reports KSDK. In the meantime, police are still in search of the suspect.
St. Louis County police said it remains unclear whether the shooting of the officer is related to the Ferguson protests, according to the Chicago Tribune.
At the Chicago public safety headquarters Monday evening, activists gathered awaiting a grand jury's decision in the death of Michael Brown. Marchers in the Ferguson protests went downtown after trekking for miles via Lake Shore Drive. They reportedly reached Lake Shore about 8:50 p.m., chanting.
"Whose streets? Our streets," shouted the group outside police headquarters at the beginning of the Ferguson protests. They repeated the chants upon reaching the Thompson Center.
"We want freedom, freedom! All these dirty racist cops! We don't need 'em, need 'em! Back up, back up!" shouted the demonstrators.
Meanwhile, officers followed strategies to contain the Ferguson protests, which the Chicago Police Department perfected during the NATO Summit of 2012.
However, some people involved in the Ferguson protests were chased by police after they crossed through a line of officers at Wabash. Police rode on horseback wearing riot helmets as they lined up on Lake Shore near Roosevelt Road.
"We all stand together! "We all stand together!" the crowd chanted.
By 10 p.m., the Ferguson protests crowd headed north on Dearborn near Daley Plaza as police lined the route to keep demonstrators from heading east or west.
More than 200 people from the Ferguson protests reportedly congregated outside police headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave. a little after 7 p.m.
Organizers originally had billed the Ferguson protests as held in reaction to the grand jury's decision.
During the Ferguson protests, the crowd shouted, "We are Mike Brown!" and "I am Mike Brown!"
Others held signs which read, "Won't stop 'til we get justice," "Killer pigs must pay," and "Stop the racist killer cops."
At this time, Chicago police officers carried wooden batons as they lined Michigan Avenue near 35th Street.
Most people in the Ferguson protests reportedly wore thick jackets, hats and scarves to fight off the cold. Others sported bandannas over their faces while one had a Guy Fawkes mask, which is often used by protesters associated with the hacker group "Anonymous."
The crowd continued with chants including, "Hands up! Don't shoot!"
Meanwhile, an angry crowd from the Ferguson protests outside the Ferguson Police Department in suburban St. Louis threw bottles as gunshots are heard. The incident came after the grand jury's decision about the white officer Monday, Reuters reports.
The police responded to the raged hundreds of people from the Ferguson protests by lobbing tear gas to the streets. Some protesters reportedly set fire to a police cruiser, another car and some buildings.
Across the United States, while mainly peaceful Ferguson protests sparked after the grand jury's decision, others were enraged and resentful. Americans reportedly spoke out on racial bias and police violence.
In New York, those who marched chanted "Black lives matter", stopping traffic in Times Square.
In Chicago, demonstrators walked up Lake Shore Drive as they carried banners reading "Justice for Mike Brown."
In Seattle, protesters blocked a downtown street in a "die-in" protest and lay down on the ground.
Boston and Seattle reportedly held a 4.5-minute moment of silence as requested by the Brown family after the decision's announcement. At the time, people from Boston who took part in the Ferguson protests were already marching from City Hall to the statehouse.
Ferguson police used smoke canisters and trucks to ward off throngs of violent demonstrators down the street and away from the police building after gunshots were heard. Flames could also be seen from a burning car at the time.
Whistles are heard as some from the hundreds of protesters shuted, "Don't run, don't run," while trying to keep the peace.
Police outside the precinct were bombared with bottles and cans as the crowd of people in the Ferguson protests marched the streets soon as the grand jury voted not to indict Officer Darren Wilson.
"Murderers, you're nothing but murderers," many shouted in the crowd.
"Stinking murderers," said one woman who was speaking via megaphone.
Dozens of police and military vehicles prepared themselves for possible mass arrests of those involved in the Ferguson protests. The area with the vehicles was not far from that which the worst of the riots occurred after the officer shot the unarmed teenager in August.
"They need to feel the pain these mothers feel at the (expletive) cemetery," shouted 40-year-old Paulette Wilkes, a teacher's assistant who was amongst the crowd in the police department, and one of the Ferguson protests.
Meanwhile, a smaller and calmer crowd consisting of around three dozen protesters surrounded the courthouse where the grand jury met. A white woman held a sign reading, "Black Lives Matter."
"That's just how the justice system works - the rich are up there and the poor are down here," said 25-year-old Antonio Burns, who is black and is living in the Ferguson area. The police "think they can get away with it," he added.
In Los Angeles, at least 50 demonstrators from the Ferguson protests there tried walking onto the Santa Monica Freeway from an off-ramp to block traffic. However, they still conformed peacefully to California Highway Patrol officers' orders and turned back, according to CHP spokesman Edgar Figueroa.
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