Sharpton meets with families of black men killed by cops

Rev. Al Sharpton invited the parents of Michael Brown as well as the families of two unarmed black men recently killed by police in New York City to meet with him Wednesday in Harlem, New York. 

“On this Thanksgiving eve, this is a very painful time for these families,” Sharpton said, according to the Associated Press. “As you see, they share each other’s pain and understand what we don’t understand.”

{mosads}A grand jury decided on Monday not to charge Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson with a crime after he killed 18-year-old Brown after an altercation. That decision set off a wave of criticism from civil rights advocates that see the decision as more proof that the justice system treats minorities unfairly and sparked protests across the country that at times turned violent.

Brown’s parents appeared with Sharpton alongside relatives of Eric Garner, a New York man who died in July after a police officer put him in a chokehold after they caught him selling untaxed cigarettes, and Akai Gurley, who was accidentally killed by New York City police last week as they were searching an apartment complex.

Sharpton said during a prayer with the families that he hoped all three men will not “die in vain, but that we all make sure that their deaths become beacons of a new way that we deal with law enforcement and community responsibility in this country.”

Protests have continued for a third night in Ferguson, a city in the greater-St. Louis area. Many witnesses described the protests as peaceful, but Monday’s demonstrations were marred by outbursts of violence that included people burning and trashing police cars, as well as other businesses. Police told USA Today that Tuesday and Wednesday’s protests were smaller, but they did arrest some people near St. Louis’ city hall.