BEIJING, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Darren Wilson, a white police officer who shot dead a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, has resigned, but his resignation has not led to the end of the persisting unrest provoked by a grand jury decision not to indict him.
Protests in the small town have flared up, spilled over to about 170 U.S. cities and triggered a national debate over race relations and police power after the grand jury announced a week ago that Wilson would face no criminal charges in the August shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
It has also drawn criticism and provoked protests outside the United States.
WILSON RESIGNS
Wilson, who has been on paid administrative leave since the incident on Aug. 9, has resigned, his lawyer Neil Bruntrager told CNN on Saturday, adding that the resignation came into immediate effect.
Wilson wrote in his resignation letter that his "continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance I can not allow."
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles told a press conference Sunday there were no leadership changes and police chief Tom Jackson would stay in his post, though many criticized the authorities' handling of the case.
The mayor outlined new incentives to bring more African-Americans into local police force, which is overwhelmingly white, even though Ferguson has a predominantly black population.
"We are recommitted to rebuilding the city and to once again becoming a thriving community for economic development and residential stability," Knowles said.
"We are working hard with local and regional partners to reestablish resources available," he added.
Rage and unrest have taken over Ferguson in the past week following the announcement of the grand jury's decision last Monday. More than a dozen buildings along the West Florissant Avenue, a few blocks from where Brown was shot, were set ablaze and police cars were vandalized that night.
On South Florissant Road, a main commercial strip in Ferguson, shops were looted with smashed windows.
Local residents and business owners were nervous and uncertain about the future in the once peaceful town of about 21,000 people.
Rage spilled over to other U.S. cities and national protests continued even on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season in the United States with retailers offering big discounts.
Protesters went out on Friday to boycott Black Friday, aiming to highlight the limited purchasing power of black Americans and draw links between economic inequality and racial inequality.
Two large shopping malls in Missouri were shut down. At least 200 protesters entered the Galleria Mall just south of Ferguson shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday, lying on the floor to block footsteps, chanting "Stop shopping and join the movement," and "No Black Friday."
In New York, more than 200 people on Friday sought to disrupt shopping with a protest in front of the Macy's store in Herald Square and marched into the ground floor under the surprised gaze of staff and shoppers.
Similar protests were also staged in other cities including Los Angeles and Oakland of the state of California. Protesters blocked off a train station in the San Francisco Bay area.
CAUTIOUS ATTITUDE OF OBAMA
Many of President Barack Obama's supporters who elected him hoping his presidency would serve as a platform to bridge the country's racial divides are disappointed at his cautious stance on the racial issue, and many have demanded he make a trip to Ferguson to hear for himself about the problems there.
The White House has been careful not to rule out such a visit and sent Attorney General Eric Holder to Ferguson.
"We need to recognize that this is not just an issue for Ferguson, this is an issue for America," Obama said.
He condemned the looting and arson, but said he understood those who believe law enforcement treats black suspects like Brown harshly.
Obama's efforts to strike a balanced middle ground in response to Ferguson stands in contrast to the deeply personal remarks he delivered last year after a Florida jury found another unarmed black teenager's killer not guilty.
In February 2012, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot dead by a neighborhood watch volunteer as he came back from buying candy at a store.
"Thirty-five years ago, I could have been Trayvon Martin," Obama said then, relating the lives of young black men with his own story.
This time, experts say Obama has been cautious about not injecting himself in a need for change and dialogue nationwide on the racial issue and still walks a fine line when the issue exacerbates a crisis.
Obama will meet at the White House Monday with cabinet members and civil rights leaders on issues related to Ferguson, the White House said in a statement on Sunday.
The meeting with cabinet members will include a discussion of a review Obama ordered in August of federal programs that provide equipment to local law enforcement agencies, the statement said.
Obama will also meet with elected officials, civil rights leaders and law enforcement officials from around the country to discuss "how communities and law enforcement can work together to build trust to strengthen neighborhoods across the country," it said.
OVERSEAS CRITICISM
The Ferguson incident has triggered widespread criticism outside the United States.
Spanish center-left El Pais newspaper said Ferguson is "the traumas of Obama's America."
The newspaper mentioned that Ferguson was founded by slave owners and "discriminatory attitudes persist and have crushed the hopes that Obama's arrival in the White House brought in 2009."
French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira posted three tweets on Tuesday questioning the decision of American justice.
"It is clear that, when the frustration is so strong, so deep, so lasting and so massive, the confidence in these institutions has to be questioned," she continued to express her concerns on France Info.
Le Figaro newspaper said the chaos in Ferguson will force Obama to face the racial issues in the country.
"It destroys the hopes of those who had naively believed that the election of the first black president in the United States history would bring the country into a 'post-racial' era. Five and a half years after his election to the White House, Barack Obama is caught by the black question," said the French newspaper.
In London, around 1,500 people joined protests at the U.S. embassy on Wednesday to support the family of Brown.
The protests, initiated by Britain's anti-racism organization Stand Up To Racism, lasted more than three hours, after which thousands of people took part in an impromptu march down Oxford Street.
Diane Abbott, a member of the British Parliament and supporter of the protest, said: "The anger and disruption that has already followed this decision extends beyond the killing of Brown right to the root of long-standing issues with the criminal justice system."
Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian Foreign Ministry's special representative for human rights, said the violent protests in Ferguson reflect simmering U.S. tensions over racial discrimination that could undermine the country's stability.
"The developments in Ferguson and other cities highlight serious challenges to the American society and its stability," Dolgov said Tuesday in remarks broadcast by the Russian state television.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Friday the ongoing mass protests against racial discrimination exposed severe human rights abuse in the United States.
"This is a clear proof of the real picture of the United States as tundra of human rights where extreme racial discrimination acts are openly practised," a DPRK foreign ministry spokesman was quoted by the country's official KCNA news agency as saying.
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NEW YORK, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Persisting protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and a large number of other cities, serve as a sharp reminder of the deep social division in the United States along racial lines.
The direct cause of the tension is the fatal shooting of an unarmed black young teen, Michael Brown, by a white police officer on Aug. 9, which immediately sparked fierce clashes in the suburb of St. Louis county, a predominately black community with a mostly white police force. Full story
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BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Residents in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis County in the central state of Missouri, are hoping for a calm night before Thanksgiving Day, as protests over the acquittal on the murder charge of a white policeman who shot dead an unarmed black teenager have spread to other U.S. cities.
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