Brutal US police shoot dead another African-American man in St. Louis area

The US police have shot dead an African-American man in the Saint Louis area of Ferguson, Missouri.

The man was shot on Tuesday about three miles from the suburb of Ferguson, where unarmed African-American Michael Brown was gunned down 10 days ago.

Ferguson has been the scene of violent clashes between police and protesters since the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9. He was shot multiple times and killed by a white policeman.

Ferguson police officers claimed on Tuesday that they found an agitated man, armed with a knife, and they fired their in fear for their safety.

On Monday, US President Barack Obama endorsed the use of the National Guard to suppress protests in the Saint Louis suburb of Ferguson.

Obama called on protesters to remain calm, noting that a small minority was using the death of Michael Brown to engage in violence.

He said giving in to anger through looting and attacks on police only stirs tension and leads to more chaos.

The US president went on to say that in order to overcome the mistrust endemic between many communities and their local police, US citizens need to “listen, and not just shout”.

On Thursday, Amnesty International, a London-based non-governmental organization that focuses on human rights, took the “unprecedented” step of sending a team to the US to observe the escalating unrest in Ferguson.

Amnesty USA’s executive director Steven W. Hawkins issued a scathing statement on Saturday soon after the Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and put a curfew in place in the St. Louis suburb.

“We criticize dictators for quelling dissent and silencing protestors with tactics like curfews, we’ll certainly speak out when it’s happening in our own backyard,” he said. “The people of Ferguson have the right to protest peacefully the lack of accountability for Michael Brown’s shooting.”