On the first anniversary of the shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, hundreds of people staged protests at the Ferguson Police Department during the weekend.

 

Several other events were planned to commemorate the tragedy in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, where Michael Brown lived and was killed by white police officer Darren Wilson during a confrontation on Aug. 9, 2014.

 

Prejudice against the colored races is a chronic problem in the United States. The following is an account of recent tragic incidents in which African-Americans died at the hands of police or in jail facilities.

 

In the latest of such cases, Christian Taylor, a 19-year-old black college football player, was fatally shot by an officer during a burglary call on Friday in the northern Texas city of Arlington.

 

Police said they were notified of an alleged burglary attempt and Taylor, who was caught on the private surveillance cameras, was allegedly jumping on parked cars before he was ultimately shot.

 

On July 10, Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old black woman was stopped by a white Texas trooper for failing to signal a lane change. A dash-cam video showed that after Bland refused to step out of her car, the encounter escalated into a physical confrontation, with the officer attempting to drag her out and threatening to "light her up" with his gun.

 

On a charge of assaulting a public servant, Bland was put into a Texas jail, where she was found hanging with a plastic trash bag around her neck on July 13.

 

On March 9, Anthony Hill, 27 and reportedly with mental health issues, was killed by a police officer in DeKalb County in the state of Georgia.

 

DeKalb County police Chief Cedric Alexander said police received a call about a man "acting deranged, knocking on doors, and crawling around on the ground naked."

 

Alexander said Hill ran toward a responding officer, who ordered him to stop before firing at him twice. Hill died at the scene and police found no sign of a weapon.

 

On March 6, a police officer shot and killed a 19-year-old black youth who allegedly assaulted him in Madison, Wisconsin.

 

The incident touched off protests in the Midwestern university city, and local media reported a heavy police presence in the area where the shooting occurred.

 

In July 2014, Eric Garner, 43, died after police officers attempted to arrest him for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes on Staten Island in New York City. A cellphone video showed that one white police officer placed his arm around Garner's neck in an apparent chokehold.

(Xinhua)