Ferguson march on eve of shooting anniversary

A crowd led by Michael Brown's father, also called Michael, and the rest of his family on Saturday marched to the high school from which Brown graduated just before his death a year ago at the hands of a white police officer.

The marchers shouted the slogan "Hands up, don't shoot," which has been a frequent feature of protests sparked by the death of the 18-year-old, who was unarmed when he was shot multiple times by the policeman on a Ferguson street on August 9, 2014.

Although the rally remained peaceful in the daytime, some trouble was reported later in the evening when several protesters jumped over a police barricade and faced off with police officers.

Brown's father told reporters that he was trying to keep "my son's life still around" by helping families and young people.

The rally on Saturday comes ahead of the main events on Sunday, which will include a silent march to a church and a religious service.

Marchers will also observe a four-and-a-half-minute silence to symbolize the four and a half hours during which Brown's body remained face down in the street after the shooting before being taken away.

Simmering anger

Brown's death sparked protests in Ferguson and other US cities and reignited debate on police treatment of blacks in America. The rioting hit a new peak in November last year when a court decided not to indict the white officer who shot the teenager.

A series of further police killings of black men since the fatal shooting of Brown has kept outrage alive over perceived systemic police racism.

Most recently, a police officer in Texas shot dead an unarmed 19-year-old college football player, Christian Taylor, after an incident early on Friday during which Taylor drove his vehicle through the window of a car dealership.

The local police chief in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, where the shooting occurred, said on Saturday that the FBI had been asked to join in the investigation of the incident to determine whether departmental rules had been observed.

The officer who fired the fatal shot, Brad Miller - who police said was still undergoing training with the department - was placed on administrative leave after the shooting.

tj/jlw (AP, AFP, dpa)