NEW YORK: Several hundred people protested in New York late Thursday against police brutality after the shooting death of a black teenager in Missouri that triggered four nights of angry protests.
The mostly young and African American protesters were also shouting slogans against the death of a black father after a New York policeman put him in an apparent chokehold last month.
"Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Justice," some signs read.
"Solidarity w/people of Ferguson, victims of legitimized hate and violence," read another brandished by a young woman who gave her name only as Cherry.
She said she was afraid of the race-tinged incidents in recent weeks.
Brown, 18, was unarmed and killed by several gunshots while standing in the street his hands in the air in the Missouri town of Ferguson, according to witnesses.
Police said he had assaulted the officer and tried to take his weapon.
Several of the New York protesters, some of whom had demonstrated after the 2012 shooting death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin by a neighbor in Florida, were also demanding New York police chief Bill Bratton step down and that the officers involved in Garner's death be brought to justice.
Amateur video showed Garner, 43, pressed against the ground by several police officers after an altercation. He complained several times he could not breathe.
His July 17 death was declared a homicide by the medical examiner after an autopsy.
"When a police officer comes to the decision that it's time to arrest someone, that individual is obligated to submit to arrest," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, in asking New Yorkers to respect police and not resist arrest.
"They will then have every opportunity for due process in our court system."
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