Police elsewhere have reported that the protests have been large and loud but mainly peaceful

In Oakland, California, dozens of protesters blocked traffic on a major highway in the Bay Area

In New York several thousand people marched from Union Square to Times Square in protest

Not long after Monday night's verdict, President Barack Obama appealed for calm and understanding

Officer Darren Wilson will not be charged over the shooting death of Michael Brown

in New York marched over the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Triboro bridges closed down traffic


Demonstrators angered by at the grand jury decision in the Darren Wilson case took to the streets in 90 cities from coast to coast Monday night, snarling traffic, chanting slogans condemning police and waving signs in support of slain black teen Michael Brown.

In New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston and Chicago, thousands of people led marches screaming, 'Hands up! Don't shoot!' that has become a rallying cry in protests over police killings across the country.

In the St Louis suburb of Clayton, Missouri, about a hundred people, among them member of clergy, took part in a rally Tuesday.

The protests around the country were largely peaceful, but several demonstrations were marred by foul-mouthed verbal attacks on police and arrests.

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Shut down: A mass of demonstrators crossed from Manhattan to Brooklyn in the traffic lane, closing it to cars

New York: Protesters fill Times Square during Monday night's march after the announcement of the grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown

Los Angeles: A protester faces off against a line of police on the 110 freeway during a demonstration in California following the grand jury decision in the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri

Philadelphia: Protesters armed with signs reading 'No Justice, No {Peace' march on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia

Los Angeles: Protesters lie down in a major intersection to block traffic as part of a 'die-in'

Clayton: Demonstrators stage a mock shooting during a protest in front of the Buzz Westfall Justice Center in Clayton, Missouri, Tusday

Clayton: Olivia Petitt, of St. Louis, cries while she prays during a gathering of people and clergy members

Clayton: Clergy members and other demonstrators block an intersection during a protest in front in Clayton

Clayton: Some demonstrators came to the rally carrying signs that read, 'Communities of color are not the enemy' and 'Praying with our feet'

Show of force: A National Guard walks by a Humvee in Clayton, Missouri November 25, 2014 following a night of rioting in nearby Ferguson

Photos and videos spread around social media showing protesters walking down traffic lanes on three New York City bridges.

A line of NYPD officers attempted to push protesters off the RFK/Triboro Bridge, with reports that cops were threatening to arrest protesters around 1:25 AM early Tuesday.

Several thousand more people had marched from Union Square to Times Square to protest. Crowds had gathered on the plaza on Monday evening awaiting the decision, but once it was announced protesters mobilized and began marching north.

Ferguson on fire: Police walk past a burning patrol car in the 300 block of South Florissant Road during a night of protests in Ferguson

Ferguson: A Ferguson firefighter surveys rubble at a strip mall that was set on fire when rioting erupted following the grand jury announcement

Washington DC: Demonstrators marched down the middle of U Street Northwest to protest the grand jury's verdict on Monday

Seattle: A protestor pours milk in his eyes after being tear gassed by Seattle police at the Interstate-5 entrance on Cherry Street in Seattle

Oakland: A protester burns an American flag on California's Highway 580 during a demonstration following the grand jury decision

Seattle: About 100 people gathered at Westlake Park as the Ferguson grand jury decision was announced then took to the streets in protest

Washinton DC: Hundreds of demonstrators gather outside the White House after the Ferguson grand jury decision in Missouri

Los Angeles: A man kneels in the road in front of a line of police during a demonstration in California on Monday night

Seattle: Protestors cry out in approval of a speaker while gathered in the streets of Seattle Monday

Seattle: A protestor drops to his knees, hands on his head, in front of police during a protest in response to the Ferguson grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson

Seattle: Seattle Police attempt to push protestors back with blasts of pepper spray and flash bang grenades from taking to the interstate on foot

Seattle: Police arrest and handcuff protestors who attempted to take to the interstate on foot

New York: Several thousand people marched from Union Square to Times Square to protest. Crowds had gathered on the plaza on Monday evening awaiting the decision, but once it was announced protesters mobilized and began marching north

Seattle: A protester reacts to being pepper sprayed by police after a group of demonstrators attempted to stop traffic on Interstate 5

People held up signs reading 'Black lives matter' and 'Jail killer cops,' and chanted 'Hands up, don't shoot' and 'No justice, no peace' as they walked to Times Square, reports NBC4.

Activists had been planning to protest even before the night-time announcement that Officer Darren Wilson will not be charged in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

About 100 demonstrators assembled in downtown Clayton, Missouri, shortly after sunrise Tuesday and spent several hours blocking intersections, singing spirituals and chanting, 'This is what theocracy looks like.' They also observed a 4½-minute moment of silence to mark the 4½ hours that Brown's body remained on the Ferguson street before it was removed.

Many protesters wore orange reflective vests identifying themselves as clergy.

The demonstrators would block intersections for up to 10 minutes at a time before moving to another. Police monitored the demonstration, which was one of many planned for Tuesday in the St. Louis area.

The racially charged case in Ferguson has inflamed tensions and reignited debates over police-community relations even in cities hundreds of miles from the predominantly black St. Louis suburb.

For many staging protests Monday, the shooting was personal, calling to mind other galvanizing encounters with local law enforcement.

Police departments in several major cities said they were bracing for large demonstrations with the potential for the kind of violence that marred nightly protests in Ferguson after Brown's killing.

Seattle: Police don body armor before dealing with protestors gathered in the streets in response to the Ferguson grand jury

Seattle: Protesters get down on their knees during a demonstration following the grand jury decision in the Ferguson, Missouri shooting

Los Angeles: Protestors lay on the ground on Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard during a demonstration in Beverly Hills, California

New York: NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton was splattered with fake blood by demonstrators in Times Square on Monday night as thousands converged there to denounce the Ferguson grand jury's decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in Michael Brown's death.

Washington DC: Hundreds of demonstrators, many of them Howard University students, lay on the ground in protest outside the White House after the Ferguson grand jury decision was announced in Missouri

Chicago: Protesters march during a rally near the Chicago Police headquarters after the grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson

New York: Police departments in cities across the country were braced for large demonstrations on Monday evening as people protested the grand jury's verdict that Officer Darren Wilson wouldn't be charged in the shooting death of Michael Brown

Oakland: A protester stands near a pile of burning trash during a demonstration in California following the grand jury decision

Washington DC: Hundreds of demonstrators, many of them Howard University students, march down the middle of U Street Northwest after a grand jury did not intict the white police officer who killed an unarmed black teenager in Missouri

Boston: A man holds a sign reading 'Black Lives Matter' as demonstrators react to the grand jury decision in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, in front of the State House in Boston, Massachusetts

Los Angeles: People hold hands in a prayer for peace at the Leimert Park area of L.A. on Monday after a grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson

New York: Activists from Los Angeles to New York scheduled marches and rallies to coincide with Monday evening's announcement of the grand jury's decision

Cleveland: Signs referenced police shootings that had shaken the community there, including Saturday's fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who had a fake gun at a Cleveland playground when officers confronted him

New York: Protesters shout slogans against the law as they begin to rally in New York after the grand jury reached a decision in the death of 18-year-old Brown in Ferguson, Missouri

Washington D.C. Protesters gather outside the White House. President Obama urged calm as violent protests broke out on the streets of Ferguson after a grand jury decided a white policeman will not face charges for killing a black teen

New York: Demonstrators push down NYPD barricades during a protest against the verdict and yelled, 'No justice, no peace, no racist police'

Demonstrators there vandalized police cars, hugged barricades and taunted officers with expletives Monday night while police fired smoke canisters and pepper spray. Gunshots were heard on the streets.

But police elsewhere reported that gatherings were mostly peaceful immediately following Monday's announcement.

Other signs included pictures of both Michael Brown and Eric Garner, the local Staten Island man who died in July after being put in a choke hold by police during an arrest.

Protesters were penned in an area at the northern end of the square, behind a ring of police officers. They pushed the metal police barriers aside and yelled, 'No justice, no peace, no racist police.'

Boston: A man holds a sign reading 'From Boston to Ferguson, cops are racist murderers' as demonstrators react to the grand jury decision

New York: Protesters react to the grand jury decision not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of Michael Brown

Boston: A woman leads the chant 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' as demonstrators react to the grand jury decision in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, in front of the State House in Boston, Massachusetts

Oakland: A masked protester holds a flare during a demonstration in California, following the grand jury decision in the Ferguson shooting

Los Angeles: A man shouts while standing on Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard during a demonstration in Beverly Hills, California

On a night marked by largely peaceful demonstrations, violence broke out not far from Ferguson leaving a police officer wounded.

The unnamed law enforcement official was shot in the arm just before midnight in University city, five miles south of Ferguson. He was taken to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries, and he is expected to make a full recovery.

The official Twitter account of the St. Louis County Police Department confirmed the shooting, which reportedly took place at approximately 11:30 p.m.

'A U. City police officer has been shot. Condition is unknown. Search for suspect underway. It is unclear if related to #FergusonDecision,' the account wrote.

During an early morning press conference, St. Louis Co. Police Chief Jon Belmar said that as far as he was aware, the shooting was 'totally unrelated' to the Ferguson protests and that his heart goes out to the officer's family.

In Oakland, California, dozens of people protesting the Ferguson grand jury decision had gotten around police and blocked traffic on a major highway in the Bay Area.

Television images showed people milling around cars, raising their hands in the air, and holding signs on Interstate 580.

A coalition of groups called the Ferguson National Response Network and Ferguson Action organized demonstrations in some 90 cities across 34 states and Canada for the night of the announcement, according to Bloomberg.

New York: Imitation blood runs down the face of a police officer after he was splattered by a protestor in Times Square

Oakland: Demonstrators in California hold signs during a demonstration following the grand jury decision in the Ferguson shooting

Oakland: Protesters shut down Interstate 580 in on Monday. Several thousand protesters marched through Oakland with some shutting down freeways multiple times, burning refuse and breaking windows on a news van

Not long after Monday night's verdict, President Barack Obama appealed for calm and understanding - pleading with both residents and police officers to show restraint.

'We are a nation built on the rule of law, so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make,' Obama said. He said it was understandable that some Americans would be 'deeply disappointed - even angered,' but echoed Brown's parents in calling for any protests to be peaceful.

In a late-night statement from the White House, Obama also urged Americans not to deny recent progress in race relations in the U.S., the protests in Ferguson notwithstanding. He called for the public to accept the grand jury's decision and to refocus on ways to make more progress in bringing police and their communities together.

New York: People held up signs reading 'Black lives matter' and 'Jail killer cops,' and chanted 'Hands up, don't shoot' and 'No justice, no peace' as they walked to Times Square

Seattle: Citizens and police officers gather at the Garfield Community Center to watch Monday's announcement. Reverend Harriett Walden, bottom left, is of the group Mothers For Police Accountability - a coalition she founded 22 years ago after she was 'angered by police regard for her sons' humanity'

Oakland: A group of demonstrators raise their hands in front of a line of police officers on Highway 580 during a demonstration in California

Los Angeles: Squad cars could be seen with their lights flashing outside the Santa Monica Town Hall as around 30 protesters held up provocative hand-made signs

Washinton DC: A man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask joins hundreds of demonstrators outside the White House after the Ferguson grand jury decision was announced in Missouri

Oakland: A protester parades around a bonfire with a poster of Michael Brown during a march in protest against the St. Louis County grand jury decision not to bring criminal charges against Darren Wilson

'That won't be done by throwing bottles. That won't be done by smashing car windows. That won't be done by using this as an excuse to vandalize property,' Obama said. 'It certainly won't be done by hurting anybody.'

Cities including Seattle, Washington and Boston, Massachusetts, held protests as well as much smaller cities like Meadville, Pennsylvania, and Longview, Texas.

Protesters in both Boston and Seattle observed the 4.5 minutes of silence that the Brown family requested after the decision was announced, with protesters in Boston then marching from City Hall to the statehouse.

In Los Angeles, which was rocked by riots in 1992 after the acquittal of police officers in the videotaped beating of Rodney King, police officers were told to remain on duty until released by their supervisors.

Oakland: A protester chants during a demonstration, in reaction the grand jury decision in the shooting of Michael Brown, in California

Boston: Demonstrators reacting to the grand jury decision in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown hold hands during four-and-a-half minutes of silence in front of the State House in Boston, Massachusetts

Oakland: California Highway Patrol officers clash with protesters, blocking traffic, during a protest against the St. Louis County grand jury decision not to bring criminal charges against Darren Wilson

Chicago: Protesters react to the St. Louis grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown

About 100 people gathered in Leimert Park - a predominantly African-American neighborhood - while others held a small news conference demanding changes in police policies. A splinter group of about 30 people broke away and marched through surrounding streets, blocking intersections, but the demonstrations remained mostly small and peaceful.

Squad cars could be seen with their lights flashing outside the Santa Monica Town Hall as around 30 protesters held up provocative hand-made signs.

Several protesters had signs that read 'State Sanctioned Murder', 'Fight Racism Like Ferguson', 'No Racist Police', 'Police Violence Must Stop' and 'Honk for Justice Don't be Silent' as commuters made their way home at night.

At least 50 demonstrators tried to walk onto the Santa Monica Freeway from an off-ramp to block traffic, but they peacefully obeyed orders from California Highway Patrol officers to turn back, CHP spokesman Edgar Figueroa said.

A 'handful' of protesters who apparently climbed up from another direction managed to dash the freeway as police were arriving on the scene, Figueroa said. No one was injured and there were no arrests, but the freeway was shut down in both directions for about 10 minutes until the incident was over, he said.

About 100 people holding signs that read 'The People Say Guilty!' blocked an intersection in downtown Oakland, California, after a line of police officers stopped them from getting on a highway on-ramp. Minutes earlier, some of the protesters lay on the ground while others outlined their bodies in chalk. A similar scene unfolded in Seattle as dozens of police officers watched.

Cleveland: In Public Square at least a dozen protesters held signs on Monday afternoon and chanted 'Hands up, don't shoot,' which has become a rallying cry since the Ferguson shooting

Cleveland: Protesters carry a photo of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who died on Saturday following the fatal shooting by a police officer after he reached into his waistband for a gun that turned out to be a fake

Chicago: Asmera Smith holds up a photographic display of people allegedly killed by police during a protest outside the Chicago Police headquarters before the announcement of the grand jury decision on Monday

New York: The county prosecutor is expected to announce the decision at 9pm ET. Protesters pictured above gathering in Union Square Monday night

In Philadelphia, several hundred people chanting, 'No justice, no peace,' marched through the neighborhoods of Center city, Chinatown, Queens Village, Rittenhouse and Penn's Landing, reported NBC Philadelphia.

Some demonstrators hurled profanities at police officers monitoring the demonstration, but it remained largely peaceful.

'Mike Brown is an emblem (of a movement). This country is at its boiling point,' said Ethan Jury, a protester in Philadelphia. 'How many people need to die? How many black people need to die?'

Chris Manor, with Utah Against Police Brutality, helped organize an event in Salt Lake City that attracted about 35 people.

'There are things that have affected us locally, but at the same time, it's important to show solidarity with people in other cities who are facing the very same thing that we're facing,' Manor said.

New York: Protestors march up Seventh Avenue after a grand jury decision in the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri

Washinton DC: Hundreds of demonstrators gather outside the White House to protest after the Ferguson grand jury decision in Missouri

Los Angeles: A protester talks to police during a demonstration in California following the grand jury decision in the shooting of Michael Brown

In Denver, where a civil jury last month found deputies used excessive force in the death of a homeless street preacher, clergy gathered at a church to discuss the decision, and dozens of people rallied in a downtown park with a moment of silence.

In Chicago, demonstrators walked up Lake Shore Drive carrying banners that read 'Justice for Mike Brown' and marched from the city's police headquarters toward downtown after hearing the Ferguson decision, using profanity but causing no damage. Police on bicycles, horseback and in squad cars closed portions of roads along the protesters' route.

Hundreds of demonstrators in Washington DC, many of them Howard University students, marched down the middle of U Street Northwest after the grand jury's verdict.

At Cleveland's Public Square, at least a dozen protesters held signs on Monday afternoon and chanted 'Hands up, don't shoot,' which has become a rallying cry since the Ferguson shooting.

Salt Lake City: Demonstrators braved the cold to stand with signs protesting the grand jury's decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson

San Francisco: A group of people raise their arms while chanting 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' during Monday night's protests

New York: Protesters marched up 7th Avenue to Times Square in peaceful protests on Monday night

New York: Not long after Monday night's verdict, President Barack Obama spoke to the nation to say that he joined with Michael Brown's family in urging peaceful protests

New York: In Union Square, protesters spelled out slogans including 'Black lives matter'

New York: Demonstrators march in Union Square on Monday in New York during a protest in anticipation of the announcement of the Grand Jury decision in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager

New York: A coalition of groups called the Ferguson National Response Network and Ferguson Action has organized demonstrations in some 90 cities across 34 states and Canada for Monday night

New York: Some of the signs at the protests in New York included pictures of both Michael Brown and Eric Garner, a local Staten Island man who died in July after being put in a choke hold by police during an arrest

Their signs referenced police shootings that had shaken the community there, including Saturday's fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who had a fake gun at a Cleveland playground when officers confronted him.

Los Angeles Community activist Najee Ali said he met with police last week to discuss plans for a peaceful gathering in response to the Ferguson decision.

The plans include having community members identify any 'agitators' who may be inciting violence so officers can remove them from the crowd, he said.

'It was kind of unprecedented,' Ali said of the meeting. 'We never collaborate with the LAPD. They do what they do, and we do what we do.'

But since violence erupted at the city's rallies protesting the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida, Ali said there was an effort to avoid repeat problems.

'We told them our plans of protest and we were demanding our First Amendment rights be protected,' Ali said. 'They said they're taking a hands-off approach,' but they'd be in the wings if outside agitators try to stir up violence in the crowds.

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans released a statement, asking for students to protest peacefully after the announcement.

'We are asking students to be mindful that there may be outside agitators trying to provoke and instigate otherwise peaceful protests. I ask that if public demonstrations occur as a result of the decision they are done with respect to our neighbors and businesses, responsibly and peacefully,' he said.

Washington D.C. - Hundreds of demonstrators - many of them Howard University students - march down the middle of U Street Northwest following Monday's verdict

New York: A woman holds a sign during a rally at Union Square as part of protests against the grand jury verdict announced on Monday

Oakland: Police officers block a Highway 580 off ramp during a demonstration in California following the grand jury decision

New York: Cops set up barriers in Union Square on Monday evening in expectation of a congregation of protesters in the park

Washington D.C. Protesters gather outside the White House after the announcement that the white policeman who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager will not face charges