Thousands of protesters paralyzed streets in New York on Thursday to condemn police killings of black suspects as details of a new racially tinged death emerged.
Thousands of protesters paralyzed streets in New York on Thursday to condemn police killings of black suspects as details of a new racially tinged death emerged.
It was the second night of rallies in America's largest city of 8.4 million after a grand jury on Wednesday decided not to indict a white officer for the death by chokehold of an unarmed black father-of-six.
Thousands of activists massed in New York's Foley Square, near the city police headquarters shouting "Shut it down" and carrying placards saying "Black Lives Matter" and "Racism Kills."
Police sealed off the Holland Tunnel, the key road link into New Jersey as US media reported that thousands streamed up the west side of Manhattan, clogging streets in downtown Manhattan and shutting traffic on the Manhattan Bridge heading to Brooklyn.
Another group marched across the Brooklyn Bridge, with a black banner that said "this stops today" and 10 black coffins inscribed with names of people killed by police in different city boroughs.
Hundreds then continued the march through Brooklyn, followed by police but an AFP reporter saw no incidents of unrest.
National controversy over Eric Garner's death in July and a series of other incidents were fanned further Thursday by a damning US federal investigation which concluded that police in Cleveland routinely employ "excessive force."
In Arizona meanwhile, police said a white officer shot dead a 34-year-old black during a confrontation outside a convenience store.
Phoenix police said the officer involved shot dead Rumain Brisbon after mistakenly believing he was reaching for a gun inside his jacket. In fact he was unarmed.
The killing is the latest of several cases since the death of Garner in New York in July which have triggered a national debate about how minorities are treated by police and the American criminal justice system.
Police shot dead a 12-year-old boy in Cleveland last month while another grand jury last week decided not to prosecute a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri who killed unarmed black teen Michael Brown in August.
