Anger over Brown’s death takes new shape in US

Anger triggered by the death of a black teenager at the hands of a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, is taking new shape in the US, where African Americans endure oppression, racial profiling and mass incarceration.

Civil rights activist believe the nationwide protests are simply no longer over the shooting death of Michael Brown by former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson and a grand jury decision not to indict him.

Observers say protesters are attempting to demonstrate that many cities across the United States face a similar situation as Ferguson, as blacks are killed almost on a daily basis by law enforcement officers.

“Mike Brown is in every state, it’s in every city,” Paul McKinley, a community activist in Chicago, told Press TV.

There are 120 cities in the US with a significant black population where African Americans face the “same conditions” as Brown did, McKinley said. Those cities have “a police department bent on destroying black people.”

Police critics say Brown’s case is an example of the racial profiling that runs rampant in law enforcement departments.

Based on a recent study by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, 313 African Americans were killed in 2012 by police officers, private security guards and members of the public, and in most cases the perpetrator was not indicted.

Students across the US have staged walkouts and die-in protests to decry police violence and racial profiling. Students from Harvard, Texas A&M, and Stanford University walked out of their classes on Tuesday.

Brown’s death sparked weeks of protest in Ferguson during the month of August. The teen’s family and some witnesses say Wilson killed Brown as he raised his hands in surrender.