Second Night of Unrest in Ferguson, Protests Held Across US

Tensions have escalated again in Ferguson, over the past hours, with protesters marching there and also in a number of US cities.

This was the second night of protests after a court ruling sparked unrest across Ferguson, where Michael Brown was shot dead by police officer Darren Wilson in August.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon announced the number of National Guard troops deployed to Ferguson, a suburban St Louis city, to preserve peace. Some 2200 National Guard officers had been deployed earlier this week.

Monday night saw the arrests of 80 people over alleged burglary and trespassing.

Ferguson's population is mostly black (67.4% as of the 2010 census), but mainly white police officers are in charge of patrolling.

Many in the city's African-American community have demanded that the officer be charged with murder, but the grand jury decided not to press state criminal charges against him.

Some protesters carried signs reading "Black Lives Matter", and many chanted "Hands up, don't shoot".

According to some witness accounts from the site of the incident, Brown's hands were raised when he was shot dead.

In the cities of New York, Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles and elsewhere smaller crowds also took to the streets in protest.

US President Barack Obama stressed he could not comment on concrete cases that are within the competence of local judiciary officials, but added there was clearly "a sense" among "many communities of color" that "laws are not being enforced uniformly or fairly".

In his words, however, there is "no excuse" for rioting.

Meanwhile Wilson gave his first public comments since the tragic event in August, telling ABC News he had feared for his life and...