Yeshiva World News

Protesters smashed windows out of police cars and businesses, several of which were later set ablaze, and officers lobbed tear gas from inside armored vehicles to disperse crowds Monday as violence overtook protests in Ferguson.

Some of the hundreds of people who gathered outside the Ferguson Police Department erupted in anger as St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch’s announced that Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, wouldn’t be indicted in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black and unarmed.

Protesters overran a barricade and taunted police. Some chanted “murderer” and others threw rocks and bottles. Gun shots rang out a several points during the night, though it was not immediately clear if anyone was hit or any arrests were made related to the gunfire.

The windows of a police car were smashed and protesters tried to topple it before it was set on fire, though some in the crowd tried to stop others from taking part in the violence. Officers responded by firing what authorities said was smoke and pepper spray into the crowd. St. Louis County Police later confirmed tear gas also was used.

A storage unit and a Little Caesar’s pizza shop were among buildings that burned.

When McCulloch read his statement, a crowd gathered around a car from which the news conference was broadcast on a stereo. Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, sat atop the car. When the decision was announced, she burst into tears and began screaming before being whisked away by supporters.

A short time later, Brown’s family issued a statement asking people to keep their protests peaceful.

“Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction,” the statement said.

(AP)

The Federal Aviation Administration is restricting the path of some flights into Lambert-St. Louis International Airport amid the unrest in Ferguson following a grand jury’s decision not to indict the white police officer who fatally shot a black 18-year-old.

According to an advisory posted late Monday, planes were being rerouted out of an at least 3-mile area near Ferguson. The reason cited was “to provide a safe environment for law enforcement activities.” An FAA spokesman didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

The airport posted on Twitter that only inbound planes, not departures, are affected, though it wasn’t clear how many. The facility remains open.

For two weeks after the August shooting, the FAA restricted flights on 37 square miles of airspace, including for news helicopters.

(AP)

Thousands of people rallied late Monday in U.S. cities including Los Angeles and New York to passionately but peacefully protest a grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer who killed a black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri.

They led marches, waved signs and shouted chants of “Hands Up! Don’t Shoot,” the slogan that has become a rallying cry in protests over police killings across the country.

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

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.

Last week Ashkelon Mayor Itamar Shimoni announced he was banning Israeli Arab construction workers in the city’s schools in light of the recent wave of terror attacks that were perpetrated by Israeli Arab residents. This includes vehicular terror attacks in Jerusalem and the massacre of mispallalim in Har Nof.

The mayor’s remarks were not received well in the political community. He was condemned by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin and many others. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat equated Shimoni’s decision with the Nuremberg Laws.

The Israeli Arab construction workers in the city’s schools are building safe rooms to prepare the buildings for the next round of warfare with Hamas. The schools are being equipped with areas capable of withstanding rocket attacks from Gaza.

Seeking a solution, Shimoni announced that the Arab workers will return to the schools to complete the projects but the children will not be there. They will be taken to community centers to distance them from the potential security threat.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

In light of the escalation in Islamic terrorism in Israel since the summer, particularly in Yerushalayim, Israel Police is calling on the public at large to join the Mishmar Ezrachi auxiliary police unit in their community.

Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) probed the matter, seeking to determine what happened to the many police volunteers as that area of the department has fewer members today than in past years. The report states the volunteer force has dropped from 100,000 to 36,000 members. 27 positions that should be filled by volunteer officers remain vacant as a result in the sharp drop in manpower.

What occurred is Israel Police is short handed in other operational areas and decided to pull the volunteers from community patrols where they are supposed to be serving, preparing to ignore the latter. Some of the many volunteers who left explain they are not respected, their primary goal of serving their communities has been ignored, they are often not given uniforms and proper equipment and they are simply treated inappropriately, compelling their decision to resign. They add they often do not have sufficient weapons or communications equipment to sign out for their shifts. The report adds there is an increase in volunteerism among the border police however.

In response to the report, an Israel Police spokesman reports “There are over 36,000 volunteers’ 80% of which have decided to give of their time to improve security and their actions are admirable. Regarding the reported missing positions for officers, the number is in line with department deployment of personnel. Israel Police is currently investing a great deal in recruiting and training long-term leadership and command positions for volunteers”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

President Barack Obama says he joins with Michael Brown’s family in urging peaceful protests after a grand jury decided not to indict the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed the unarmed, black 18-year-old.

Obama made the comments Monday moments after official word of the grand jury’s decision.

The president said first and foremost the nation is built on the rule of law. He said despite anger and intense disagreement on either side, Americans need to accept the decision that the grand jury made.

The Justice Department is also conducting an investigation into possible civil rights violations that could result in federal charges

(AP)

The conventional wisdom in the Republican Party is changing.

Less than two years ago, party leaders solemnly declared after an exhaustive study that the GOP “must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform.” It was critical for the party’s survival, they said, to address an issue that was paramount to the nation’s surging Hispanic population. But as President Obama issued a sweeping immigration order last week, some of the Republican Party’s most prominent governors — likely presidential candidates among them — described immigration reform as little more than an afterthought.

“This issue is probably not in the top 10 of most voters in America,” Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is considering a 2016 White House bid, said alongside nodding colleagues at the Republican Governors Association annual conference in Florida. Walker dismissed the Democratic president’s order that shields as many as five million immigrants from deportation as a trap designed to divert attention “from the real issues in this country.”

The comments reflect a dramatic shift among some GOP leaders emboldened by this month’s midterm success just as the next presidential contest gets underway. Having claimed the Senate majority in the low-turnout November campaign, the sense of urgency that dominated Republican leadership after losing the White House in 2012 has all but disappeared.

The evolution presents risks, however, for Republicans competing in a 2016 election that will draw a much larger and more diverse electorate — especially in a handful of swing states where the Hispanic population is quickly growing.

The contrast between the parties has never been clearer.

Prospective Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton praised Obama’s order as an “historic step.”

“Now,” she said in a tweet, “let’s turn to permanent bipartisan reform.”

And as Hispanic leaders cheered the order, potential Republican presidential candidates threatened lawsuits, shutdowns and even impeachment — but no immigration policy of their own.

The Republican criticism has focused on the president’s decision to act unilaterally, although political strategists acknowledged the distinction may matter little to Hispanic voters come 2016.

“Republicans ought to stand up to a president who is trying to make himself an emperor. If we lose a vote or two over that, so be it,” said Henry Barbour, a Republican operative who helped author the very report calling for his party to embrace immigration reform after Hispanic voters swung sharply against the GOP in the 2012 presidential election.

Republicans routed Democrats in this month’s midterm elections, although most of the competitive contests played out in states and congressional districts with small Hispanic populations. Nationally, the share of the Hispanic vote is surging, especially in key swing states like Colorado, Florida and Nevada.

In the last presidential contest, Obama won 71 percent of Hispanic voters compared to Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s 27 percent, according to exit polls. Democrats’ advantage was far smaller against former President George W. Bush, a Republican who tried unsuccessfully to champion immigration reform and even spoke conversational Spanish.

Since the Bush years, however, conservatives have emphasized border security while aggressively resisting reforms that include a pathway to legal status for the estimated 12 million immigrants in the country illegally. Romney in 2012 called on such people to “self-deport,” a position that was popular with conservatives but haunted him in the general election.

“Shame on us as Republicans,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Sunday, citing House Republicans’ resistance to an immigration bill approved by the Senate.

Republican Hispanic leaders who opposed Obama’s plan predicted Republicans would struggle again in 2016 if they simply attack the executive order without offering their own solutions. The party needs to address the millions of immigrants in the country illegally instead of simply focusing on border security, said Alfonso Aguilar, who worked in the George W. Bush White House and now leads the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles.

“If Republicans focus all their efforts on trying to attack this order and don’t lead, and pass legislation, they’re just going to hurt themselves with Latino voters,” said Aguilar, who described the executive order as a “Band-Aid that doesn’t resolve the problem.”

Republican House speaker John Boehner late last week vowed legislative action to counter the president’s plan, but did not offer details.

The focus on immigration infuriated Republican governors gathered in Florida last week.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie refused to disclose his own position on immigration as he repeatedly criticized the president’s order. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence called for an immediate court challenge.

Texas Gov.-elect Greg Abbott was one of the few Republican leaders to emphasize the need to attract Hispanic voters. He suggested that his wife, who is Hispanic, helps demonstrate that Latino voters and Republicans have much in common.

“Once we marry those two communities— the same way that I’ve been married to my wife for 33 years — we will have lasting Republican majorities, not just among governors, but across the United States of America for decades to come,” Abbott said.

(AP)

Today, the leadership of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, issued the following statement in response to the extension reached in Vienna between the “P5+1” and the Iranian regime:

“The Orthodox Union is concerned about the extension given to the negotiations process between the P5+1 and Iran regarding Iran’s nuclear weapons capability, but recognizes that an extension is preferable to signing a bad deal that would endanger Israel and the Middle East. We trust that this extension will enable the negotiators to obtain an agreement that will preclude —now and forever — Iranian nuclear weapons capability.

“The Iranian leadership regularly calls for the destruction of Israel—even posting a plan titled ‘9 key questions about the elimination of Israel’ on social media just two weeks ago—and aggressively pursues nuclear weapons technology in violation of many UN Security Council resolutions (while at the same time denying that very pursuit).

“While we note the Obama Administration’s extensive efforts to find a diplomatic solution and identify a deal that truly dismantles and reverses Iran’s nuclear weapons capability, we fear that an extension through June simply affords Iran an opportunity to continue on its path toward nuclear weapons capability while simultaneously participating in the nuclear talks. The Iranian regime cannot be permitted to continue developing its nuclear weapons technology. The sanctions, which brought the Iranians into negotiations in the first place, must be maintained and increased in order to preserve any possibility of a negotiated solution. The Orthodox Union is prepared to work with our allies in Congress in support of such efforts.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A grand jury has decided not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed, black 18-year-old whose fatal shooting sparked weeks of sometimes-violent protests.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch announced the decision Monday evening. A grand jury of nine whites and three blacks had been meeting weekly since Aug. 20 to consider evidence.

At least nine votes would have been required to indict Wilson.

The Justice Department is conducting an investigation into possible civil rights violations that could result in federal charges.

Brown’s Aug. 9 death sparked more than a week of unrest that included angry clashes between police and protesters and led Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to briefly summon the National Guard.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

A grand jury has reached a decision about whether to indict a Ferguson police officer in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

In a brief email to reporters, a spokesman for St. Louis County’s top prosecutor said the decision would be announced at 8 p.m. at the downtown courthouse in the St. Louis County seat of Clayton. He offered no other details.

As the nation awaited the announcement, authorities quickly stepped up security around the courthouse. Barricades were erected, and more than 20 Missouri state troopers were seen silently assembling with rifles, 3-foot batons, riot shields and other equipment. Some nearby businesses boarded up their windows, just as many shops have already done near the site of Brown’s death in Ferguson.

School and business closings scrolled on local television as if there were a snowstorm.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon urged people to remain peaceful as he appeared at a news conference with the state’s public safety director and the leaders of St. Louis city and county.

“Our shared hope and expectation is that regardless of the decision, people on all sides show tolerance, mutual respect and restraint,” Nixon said.

The governor said he did not know what the grand jury had decided.

Hours before the announcement, dozens of people gathered in the parking lot across the street from the Ferguson Police Department. Many stood right at the edge of the lot, almost in the street, chanting things “no justice, no peace, no racist police.”

One woman leading the group screamed through a bullhorn “indict that cop. Police don’t like it. We want an indictment.”

Several young men in hooded sweatshirts that said “Peace Keepers” kept people from streaming into the street. A couple of people approached the police department building, but a woman asked them to protest the right way and pulled them into a prayer circle. Shortly after that, 15 uniformed officers came out to monitor the protests.

The grand jury has been considering charges against Darren Wilson, the white suburban St. Louis officer who fatally shot the black 18-year-old after a confrontation in August.

The Aug. 9 shooting inflamed tensions in the predominantly black St. Louis suburb that is patrolled by an overwhelmingly white police force. As Brown’s body lay for hours in the center of a residential street, an angry crowd of onlookers gathered. Rioting and looting occurred the following night, and police responded with armored vehicles and tear gas.

Protests continued for weeks ? often peacefully, but sometimes turning violent, with demonstrators throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails and police firing smoke canisters, tear gas and rubber bullets.

Nixon said the National Guard will provide security at “critical facilities,” such as police and fire stations and utility substations, and would offer other support as needed.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said demonstrators would be given leeway to slow down traffic in the streets, but “we will not allow them to hurt anyone or damage anyone’s property.”

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley urged people to “think with their head and not with their emotion.”

Anticipating the potential for large demonstrations, more than 15 school districts canceled Monday evening activities and several extended their Thanksgiving break by canceling classes Tuesday. Washington University closed a satellite campus in Clayton.

Pastors were planning a rally and prayer service later Monday evening at the West Side Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis.

“There’s a lot of hurt, a lot of brokenness. There’s anger and frustration on every side,” said the Rev. Ronald Bobo Sr., the church’s pastor. “We need the hand of God to lead us and guide us.”

The 12-person grand jury met in secret for months, hearing evidence from a wide variety of witnesses as it weighed whether Wilson’s should face charges that could range from involuntary manslaughter to murder. The grand jurors could also decide not to charge Wilson at all.

At the lower end of the possible charges is second-degree involuntary manslaughter, which is defined as acting with criminal negligence to cause a death. It is punishable by up to four years in prison. The most serious charge, first-degree murder, can be used only when someone knowingly causes a death after deliberation and is punishable by either life in prison or lethal injection.

(AP)

Former Shas leader MK Eli Yishai explained that there is an absolute lack of trust between him and party leader MK Aryeh Deri, referring to it as a crisis.

Speak with Knesset Channel reported Nechama Dweck, Yishai stated “No one is naïve. There is deep crisis of confidence and as a result, things were not simple for the threesome that ran the party following the petira of Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZT”L. I will do my best to unite the ranks. Time will tell if he makes similar efforts. Time will tell.”

Knesset Channel:

Will your name appear on the Shas roster I the next election?

Yishai:

Time will tell.

Yishai then talks about the time period when Deri returned, reentering the political arena and usurping the party leadership from under him. He explains “I closed that black box on what took place and how, but when the time comes, if the situation requires, I will open it. Now I have nothing to say”.

Unlike Deri who prefers to discard the integrity of most polls showing Shas fall into the single digits, Yishai admits he is quite concerned and feels the party must face harsh realities. Yishai does not feel saving the current government is a viable option, which concurs with statements from Yahadut Hatorah MKs who tell the media the chareidi parties will not enter the coalition to save Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

It appears the chareidi parties are resigned to new elections.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Democrats narrowed the list of contenders for their 2016 national convention to three cities on Monday, announcing the party’s next presidential candidate will be formally nominated in New York City, Philadelphia or Columbus, Ohio.

The Democratic National Committee said convention bids made by Birmingham, Alabama and Phoenix had been eliminated.

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congresswoman, announced the finalists in an email to Democrats and said the event would be held either the weeks of July 18, July 25 or August 22. She said the DNC expects to announce the host city in early 2015.

The three remaining cities could offer an appealing backdrop for Hillary Rodham Clinton, the leading Democratic presidential contender should she seek the White House again.

Clinton represented New York in the Senate and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was first nominated at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in 1992. The couple lives in nearby Westchester County and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has promoted the Brooklyn convention site as a popular option for the party’s liberal base.

The Clintons have deep ties to Philadelphia’s organizers, including Mayor Michael Nutter and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. The city was the site of the 2000 Republican convention and its East Coast location and patriotic heritage as the home of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell could be a plus.

Columbus, meanwhile, would put Democrats in the center of the nation’s top presidential battleground state and offer an in-state rebuttal to Republicans, who are holding their convention in Cleveland.

The winning bid is expected to be based on a number of factors, including the city’s ability to raise an estimated $65 million or more along with the potential venues, hotels and transportation options for delegates, party activists and the media.

Birmingham, Alabama, and Phoenix, Arizona, had both offered out-of-the-box options. Alabama is a solidly Republican state and has not supported a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976, limiting its appeal. Democrats would like to turn Arizona into a presidential battleground state ? the party has not carried it since 1996 ? but some party activists have been critical of the state’s approach to immigration enforcement.

Republicans are planning to hold their Cleveland convention beginning either June 27 or July 18. The DNC is keeping the July 18 week as an option but would hold it a different week if Republicans select a mid-July convention.

(AP)

Police report that an Arab male on line for a Bituach Leumi office on Jaffa Street realized there was a security inspection. He was seen getting out of line and heading to a garbage can. A security agent recovered the large knife that he placed into the garbage.

In other acts of terror, vehicles traveling in the Har Hebron Hills and in Chawarah in Shomron targeted Jewish motorists with firebombs. B’chasdei Hashem there were no fatalities or injuries. A school bus was targeted in the Chawarah attack.

In the Carmel region, a taxi driver was attacked with stones on Route 85. The attack occurred near an Arab area.

In Gaza, Hamas terrorists on Monday, 2 Kislev, tested another missile, firing into the sea.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

After seeing the successes in the IDF’s Shachar and Nachal Chareidi programs, the IDF Navy, the most secular branch of the Israeli military, is now seeking to establish a chareidi unit.

The navy a number of years ago began a program that provided an opening for hesder talmidim, with strict guidelines compelling a minimum of two soldiers assigned to each vessel to prevent a frum soldier finding himself alone in such a difficult environment. That program still continues today.

Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) reports that the navy is working to attract a small number of chareidim amid the realization that chareidim in this branch of the military would be welcome since there are none today. The navy believes chareidim could serve on Devorah patrol boats as the hesder talmidim are doing today.

With the navy being a relatively small branch of the military, officials are willing to launch the program if they get 10 chareidi volunteers, stressing they do not require large numbers as is the case today with Nachal Chareidi.

A senior naval officer told Galei Tzahal that the service is about to receive four new vessels and they hope to integrate men and women on those vessels, another navy first.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Likud MK Danny Danon feels the time is come to get considerably tougher on terrorists and their families. Danon has introduced a bill that would prevent Israel handing over the bodies of dead terrorists to permit their families to bury them and mourn. The bill also stipulates the bodies may not be turned over to the PA (Palestinian Authority). Danon feels the funerals are generally a forum to praise and glorify the terrorists, referred to as Shahid (martyrs) and often perpetuated by naming a street or square in the PA after them.

Danon explains there is a precedent as Israel buried the bodies of Hizbullah terrorists in unknown cemeteries and the same must be done here. He explains Israel has to begin talking the same language as terrorists and getting tough, to stop playing by rules that are interpreted by terrorists as a sign of weakness.

The MK explains even house demolitions are not what they must be because destroying a room of a terrorist while leaving a home standing permits the family to rebuild the room.

Danon was asked to comment on proposals to bury Islamic terrorists in pig skin to prevent them from entering paradise, he explained he is unaware of such proposals but feels preventing families from burying the terrorists is a necessary step in the correct direction.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

[VIDEO & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Lakewood Chaveirim received a call on Sunday, from a distressed mother. She said her son was jumping in a pile of leaves, and his cochlear implant that costs a few thousand dollars fell out and got lost in the pile. The family members combed and searched the pile but came up with nothing.

Within minutes, numerous Chaveirim members responded to the call. They brought metal detectors, magnets, rakes etc, to assist in the search. After about an hour & 1/2 of combing the massive leaf pile, their efforts were paid off – and the hearing implant was found!

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has bought some time, a week. The Jewish Nation Bill passed by the cabinet on Sunday Rosh Chodesh Kislev will not be brought to the plenum for a vote on Wednesday 4 Kislev as planned, but it will be delayed one week.

Some feel the bill may be the straw that breaks the coalition’s back as Yesh Atid and The Movement have stated they will not back the current version of the bill.

At the heart of the controversy is the fact Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s version emphasizes a Jewish state and then a democratic state while Yesh Atid and The Movement feel the matter of a democracy must be paramount.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

A timeline of key events following the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

———

AUG. 9 ? Brown and a companion, both black, are confronted by an officer as they walk back to Brown’s home from a convenience store. Brown and the officer, who is white, are involved in a scuffle, followed by gunshots. Brown dies at the scene, and his body remains in the street for four hours in the summer heat. Neighbors later lash out at authorities, saying they mistreated the body.

AUG. 10 ? After a candlelight vigil, people protesting Brown’s death smash car windows and carry away armloads of looted goods from stores. In the first of several nights of violence, looters are seen making off with bags of food, toilet paper and alcohol. Some protesters stand atop police cars and taunt officers.

AUG. 11 ? The FBI opens an investigation into Brown’s death, and two men who said they saw the shooting tell reporters that Brown had his hands raised when the officer approached with his weapon and fired repeatedly. That night, police in riot gear fire tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse a crowd.

AUG. 12 ? Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson cancels plans to release the name of the officer who shot Brown, citing death threats against the police department and City Hall.

AUG. 14 ? The Missouri Highway Patrol takes control of security in Ferguson, relieving St. Louis County and local police of their law-enforcement authority following four days of violence. The shift in command comes after images from the protests show many officers equipped with military style gear, including armored vehicles, body armor and assault rifles. In scores of photographs that circulate online, officers are seen pointing their weapons at demonstrators.

AUG. 15 ? Police identify the officer who shot Brown as Darren Wilson, 28. They also release a video purporting to show Brown robbing a convenience store of almost $50 worth of cigars shortly before he was killed, a move that further inflames protesters.

AUG. 16 ? Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declares a state of emergency and imposes a curfew in Ferguson.

AUG. 17? Attorney General Eric Holder orders a federal medical examiner to perform another autopsy on Brown.

AUG. 18 ? Nixon calls the National Guard to Ferguson to help restore order and lifts the curfew.

AUG. 19 ? Nixon says he will not seek the removal of St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch from the investigation into Brown’s death. Some black leaders questioned whether the prosecutor’s deep family connections to police would affect his ability to be impartial. McCulloch’s father was a police officer who was killed in the line of duty when McCulloch was a child, and he has many relatives who work in law enforcement.

AUG. 20 ? Holder visits Ferguson to offer assurances about the investigation into Brown’s death and to meet with investigators and Brown’s family. In nearby Clayton, a grand jury begins hearing evidence to determine whether Wilson should be charged.

AUG. 21 ? Nixon orders the National Guard to begin withdrawing from Ferguson.

SEPT. 25? Holder announces his resignation but says he plans to remain in office until his successor is confirmed.

SEPT. 25? Ferguson Chief Tom Jackson releases a videotaped apology to Brown’s family and attempts to march in solidarity with protesters, a move that backfires when Ferguson officers scuffle with demonstrators and arrest one person moments after Jackson joins the group.

OCT. 10 ? Protesters from across the country descend on the St. Louis region for “Ferguson October,” four days of coordinated and spontaneous protests. A weekend march and rally in downtown St. Louis draws several thousand participants.

OCT. 13 ? Amid a downpour, an interfaith group of clergy cross a police barricade on the final day of Ferguson October as part of an event dubbed “Moral Monday.” The protests extend beyond Ferguson to sites such as the nearby headquarters of Fortune 500 company Emerson Electric and the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St. Louis, site of a Monday Night Football game between the St. Louis Rams and the San Francisco 49ers.

OCT. 21 ? Nixon pledges to create an independent Ferguson Commission to examine race relations, failing schools and other broader social and economic issues in the aftermath of Brown’s death.

NOV. 17 ? The Democratic governor declares a state of emergency and activates the National Guard again ahead of a decision from a grand jury. He places the St. Louis County Police Department in charge of security in Ferguson, with orders to work as a unified command with St. Louis city police and the Missouri Highway Patrol.

NOV. 18 ? Nixon names 16 people to the Ferguson Commission, selecting a diverse group that includes the owner of construction-supply company, two pastors, two attorneys, a university professor, a 20-year-old community activist and a police detective. Nine of its members are black. Seven are white.

NOV. 24 ? St. Louis County prosecutor’s office says the grand jury has reached a decision.

(AP)