St. Louis, November 12 (RHC)-- In the U.S. state of Missouri, Governor Jay Nixon says he is prepared to redeploy the National Guard after a grand jury reaches its decision in the Michael Brown case. On Tuesday, Nixon said Guard members will be on standby should protests erupt.
According to Nixon, more than 1,000 officers have recently undergone some 5,000 hours in training on crowd control. The deployment of the National Guard in the protests that followed Brown’s killing in August helped fuel criticism of the state’s militarized crackdown.
Leaks in the case have suggested Darren Wilson, the officer who killed Brown, will not be indicted. Prosecutors say they expect a grand jury decision later this month.
In related news, Michael Brown’s parents have taken their case to the United Nations in Geneva. Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden have been accompanied by a group of Ferguson activists to testify before the United Nations Committee Against Torture. On Tuesday, they asked the committee to end discriminatory U.S. policing tactics, including racial profiling, and investigate the targeting of communities of color.