Echoing the calls for peace made by Michael Brown's family, President Barack Obama sent his own message to the people of Ferguson, Missouri, ahead of a grand jury's decision on the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager.
"I think first and foremost, keep protests peaceful," Obama said in an interview with ABC News, which will air on Sunday. "This is a country that allows everybody to express their views, allows them to peacefully assemble, to protest actions that they think are unjust. But using any event as an excuse for violence is contrary to the rule of law, contrary to who we are."
A grand jury is deciding whether or not to indict police officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9. The shooting sparked months of protest and unrest in the St. Louis suburb.