Protests Of Grand Jury Decision Fan Out Across The Country

By Bill Chappell,

Published November 26, 2014 at 1:40 AM EST

Updated at 6:54 a.m.

Public reaction to a Missouri grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson has ranged from fire and looting close to where Wilson shot Michael Brown to peaceful protests nearby.

Other protests were held in large and small cities and college towns across America on Tuesday; photos from those scenes show a variety of demonstrators, tactics and responses.

In Los Angeles, The Associated Press reports, a small group of protesters flooded the U.S. 101 freeway Tuesday night, bringing traffic to a halt. Police chased them off and corralled them on an overpass. Most of the protests in the city were peaceful.

In Oakland, Calif., some protesters vandalized police cars and businesses. Fires were set on some streets, and protesters briefly shut down two freeways.

A protester adds wood to a fire burning in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday.

In New York City, protesters poured through Times Square and for the second night in a row blocked major roads and bridges.

Police Commissioner William Bratton told the AP that "as long as they remain nonviolent, and as long as they don't engage in issues that cause fear or create vandalism, we will work with them to allow them to demonstrate."

People protest Tuesday night in New York City's Times Square regarding the grand jury decision to not indict officer Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Mo.

Protesters in Atlanta included several hundred students from Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University. They condemned CNN's coverage of the protests in Ferguson and held other peaceful demonstrations, but police later said some protesters tried to block a freeway, broke windows and failed to disperse, and 21 were arrested.

A law enforcement officer watches over Morehouse College students raising their fists in the air Tuesday, joining others in a rally at the CNN Center after marching from King's Chapel on their Atlanta campus.

A night after hundreds gathered outside the White House, protesters in Washington, D.C., blocked a major street as they moved through the city's downtown and Chinatown neighborhoods. Protests were peaceful on both nights.