KNX Spotlight: The Ferguson Decision

(KNX 1070) — Residents of Los Angeles and other cities nationwide are reacting to a grand jury's decision to not indict a Ferguson, Mo., police officer for the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen in August.

KNX anchor Tom Haule and chief investigative reporter Charles Feldman hosted a live, listener call-in program featuring experts discussing the decision - and the ensuing protests - on KNX Spotlight: "The Ferguson Decision".

The panel included civil rights attorney Constance Rice, community leaders Earl Ofari Hutchinson and Joe Hicks, and American University professor William Yeomans and touched on topics ranging from the demographics of Ferguson's police department to progress made by the LAPD on racially-charged issues here in the Southland.

Listeners were asked to submit questions to be answered on-air by calling 1-866-569-1070 or through Twitter using #knxferguson.

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A crowd of about 100 protesters gathered at Leimert Park on Monday night chanting "No justice, no peace" as they heard the announcement that Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the shooting of unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown.

PHOTOS: LA Reacts To Ferguson Decision

The protesters crowded around a single speaker Monday night to listen to the announcement as it was broadcast from Ferguson.

A splinter group of about 30 people broke away and marched through surrounding streets, blocking intersections and chanting "hands up, don't shoot" with their hands in the air.

But the demonstrations remained mostly small and peaceful as law enforcement and religious leaders had encouraged earlier in the day.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck also met earlier Monday with religious leaders and activists, answering questions about police practices and how the department deals with unarmed black men.

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