Rev. Al Sharpton criticized the Ferguson grand jury's decision to not indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old unarmed Michael Brown, stating that the verdict was "an absolute blow" to the justice system.
"It was expected, but still an absolute blow to those of us that wanted to see a fair and open trial. I think that it is clear that even when you see a blow coming ... it still hurts nonetheless," Sharpton said late Monday evening from his Harlem, New York office, according to video posted by Mediaite.
Denouncing the explanation of the non-indictment provided by St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert P. McCulloch, the civil rights activist and MSNBC host referred to certain claims about the investigation as "flawed" and "very suspect."
"This is one case. You have another case with [Akai] Gurley," Sharpton said, referring to the unarmed black man who was accidentally killed last week by a police officer conducting a sweep through a Brooklyn housing project.
Both cases have managed to highlight the issues of racial profiling and police brutality that many African Americans face in regards to law enforcement, he said, adding that Brown's family has now joined others who "collectively share the pain of having a loved one taken by law enforcement," according to the Huffington Post.
"Let it be clear. We are dealing with the same attitudes in Ferguson right here in the city," Sharpton said, who was joined by the family of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man who died in July after being placed in a chokehold by a police officer. Garner's family is waiting for a grand jury to decide whether the officer involved should face charges.
Early Monday, Brown family attorney Benjamin Crump had stated that if the grand jury decided to not indict Wilson, the family would look to file federal charges against him, Politico reported.
"The family understands that if there is no indictment, the killer of their child won't be held accountable -- and that is heartbreaking to them," Crump said.
On Monday night, chaos and unrest returned to the streets of Ferguson after the grand jury announced its verdict, with thousands of enraged protestors coming out and setting fire to dozens of buildings and cars, looting businesses in the area where the unarmed, black 18-year-old was fatally shot, while police responded with tear gas and flash-bang canisters, Breitbart reported.
Hundreds of gunshots were reportedly heard by authorities, which for some time prevented fire crews from responding to emergency scenes and fighting the flames.
About 61 people were arrested overnight on charges ranging from unlawful assembly to arson to trespassing and burglary, St. Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman said. A majority of the arrests, about 21, occurred along South Grand Avenue where some protestors had smashed business windows, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said.
Meanwhile, Sharpton will be holding a news conference in Ferguson on Tuesday, after which he will travel to New York to rally a call for the federal government "to escalate a criminal indictment."
"Ferguson is not just Missouri," Sharpton said. "We can lose a round, but the fight is not over."
