THE last thing the divided community of riot-torn Ferguson, Missouri, and the almost intractable problem of race relations in the US, needed was an exclusively white group of middle-aged, self-appointed vigilantes, each better armed than most European soliders, “patrolling” the streets.

Police have arrested nearly two dozen people in Ferguson, Missouri, during a fourth consecutive night of demonstrations marking the anniversary of the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown.

Good evening. Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

Prosecutors in Ferguson, Missouri, have charged an 18-year-old man with assaulting police officers on the anniversary of the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.

Hundreds of people observed four and a half minutes of silence yesterday to mark one year since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead by a US police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

The relatives of an unarmed black man who died after being put in a white police officer’s chokehold said yesterday that the nearly $6 million settlement they reached with the city wasn’t a victory as they continued pressing for federal civil rights charges.

Peniel E Joseph sets last week’s massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston in the context of a climate of denial in America over national issues of racial inequality

Police in riot gear have made numerous arrests as protesters took to the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, after a judge cleared a police officer over the deaths of two unarmed black suspects killed in a barrage of gunfire.

Baltimore residents were cleaning up the wreckage from rioting and fires that erupted after the funeral of a 25-year-old black man who died after suffering a spinal injury in police custody.

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets to demand answers over the police custody death of Freddie Gray.

Questions persist about the fatal shooting of a black South Carolina motorist after the release of video taken from the car of the white US police officer charged over the death.

Questions persist about the fatal shooting of a black South Carolina motorist after the release of video taken from the car of the white police officer charged over the death.

A white South Carolina police officer has been dismissed from his job after being charged with murder for shooting an apparently unarmed black man in the back as he fled, the latest death that has brought protesters out to decry racism and police brutality in the United States.

In the United States, demonstrators have gathered in the city of North Charleston to protest at the fatal shooting of a black man by a white police officer.

Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe called for an investigation into the arrest of a black college student that left him bleeding from the head and sparked campus protests.

The hunt for suspects in the shooting of two police officers at a protest rally in Ferguson, Missouri, is continuing as community leaders appeal for reconciliation and justice in a town struggling against a legacy of racial tension.

President Barack Obama says America’s racial history “still casts its long shadow” despite a half-century of progress toward a more perfect union.

Former police officer Darren Wilson will not be prosecuted over the shooting death of an unarmed black 18-year-old that led to weeks of protests, the US Justice Department said.

With the dashboard camera in their car rolling, police pulled a Jaguar over for running a stop sign on a dark night. Things turned tense when one of the officers warned his partner he could see a gun in the glove compartment.

A US police video of officers confronting and then fatally shooting a black man in southern New Jersey has stirred anger over another death at the hands of police.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio said it was “disrespectful” for some city police officers to turn their backs to him during two funerals for dead police officers.

Thousands of New York city police officers again turned their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio as he spoke at the funeral for an officer shot dead with his partner.

Elected amid fervour and renewed American belief, it was inevitable that the first black president of the US wouldn’t match the hopes and dreams of a nation, writes Elizabeth Drew

Hundreds of officers outside the church where a funeral was being held for a policeman killed along with his partner in an ambush shooting turned their backs on New York’s mayor as he spoke during the service.

Protesters who have rallied for weeks over excessive use of police force rejected New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plea to suspend demonstrations after the killing of two officers.

As the New York Police Department mourns two of its own, Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded for a pause in protests amid a widening rift with those in a grieving force who accuse him of creating a climate of mistrust that contributed to the killings of two officers.

US police departments and union leaders are warning the rank and file to wear bulletproof vests and avoid making inflammatory posts on social media in the days after a man ambushed two officers and shot them to death inside their patrol car.

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio called for a temporary halt to protests over police conduct as he faced a widening rift with a force preparing Christmas time burials for two of its own and decrying the demonstrations as a factor in the officers’ cold-blooded executions.

The gunman who murdered two New York City police officers in their squad car had a long criminal record, a hatred of police and the government and an apparent history of mental instability that included a suicide attempt a year ago, it has emerged.

He may be president now, but Barack Obama says he’s a black man mistaken for a valet and a waiter.

Thousands of protesters have marched across the US to call attention to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police and urge lawmakers to take action.

More than 10,000 protesters converged on the US capital today to help draw attention to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police and call for legislative action.

Protests across the United States against police killings of unarmed black men have continued, with calls for nationwide dialogue and a “die in” in one city.

A fifth day of nationwide protests against police violence was set to begin yesterday after overnight clashes in two West Coast cities as New York’s police commissioner said an internal investigation into a chokehold death could last four months.

Protesters rallied across America for a third day over a New York grand jury’s decision not to charge a white police officer over the chokehold death of an unarmed black man.

United Nations human rights experts have called for a halt to racial profiling by US law enforcement officers and a review of laws allowing police to use lethal force.

Civil rights leaders have condemned the decision not to charge a white New York City police officer over the chokehold death of a black man and are planning a march and a summit on racial justice in Washington.

The mobile phone video of the last moments of Eric Garner’s life showed a white police officer holding the unarmed black man in a chokehold as he repeatedly gasped, “I can’t breathe.”

Protests have erupted across New York and in US cities from Georgia to California after a white police officer was cleared over the chokehold death of an unarmed black man.

Protests have broken out in New York City after a white police officer was cleared of blame over the chokehold death of an unarmed black man stopped on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes.

US president Barack Obama is due to discuss the situation in Ferguson, Missouri, with his cabinet, civil rights leaders, law enforcement officials and others.

Fifteen people protesting against a decision not to indict the police officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown have been arrested outside the Ferguson police department.

US president Barack Obama has appealed for calm as enraged protesters set fire to buildings and cars and looted businesses after a grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer over the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.