[caption id="attachment_132217" align="alignright" width="196"] Protesters knock over police barricades in Union Square in New York on Monday. PETER FOLEY/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY[/caption]
Protests in a number of U.S. cities were primarily peaceful Monday night following the decision by a grand jury not to indict a Ferguson, Mo., police officer in the shooting death of a black teenager, though some vandalism occurred in at least one city.
Marches and rallies had been planned in many of the nations largest cities, from New York to Chicago to Houston, regardless of the jurys finding.
In New York, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Union Square in Manhattan. When the grand jury decision was announced, word quickly spread through the crowd. In a few minutes, most were holding one fist up in the air as they observed a moment of silence that lasted nearly five minutes.
The only audible sound was the shutter of press cameras. Some demonstrators were in tears.