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Ferguson Protesters Tear Gassed In Tense Night

Protesters have been tear gassed on a second night of disorder in Ferguson, Missouri, as demonstrations were staged across the US.

Some 58 people were arrested in Ferguson, while in St Louis County, two FBI agents were shot at a barricaded home.

The two suffered non-life threatening injuries, and the incident was not directly related to the protests taking place miles away, the FBI said.

In Ferguson authorities dispersed crowds on Tuesday night after a police car was set on fire outside City Hall in the St Louis suburb.

Missouri's governor had tripled the deployment of National Guard troops in Ferguson to more than 2,000, and there was no sign of the rioting that convulsed the community a night earlier.

Chief Jon Belmar of St Louis County told reporters "it was a much better night".

However, the situation remained volatile amid undimmed outrage at Monday's decision not to indict a white police officer who shot dead a black teenager, Michael Brown.

In downtown Ferguson's South Florissant Avenue, members of an armed anti-government militia, the Oath Keepers, patrolled the rooftops of businesses whose premises they had vowed to protect.

One of the volunteers brandished his weapon as he goaded passing protesters to attempt to burn down the building he was guarding. The demonstrators did not rise to the bait.

The group's leader, who only gave his name as Sam, told Sky News earlier that the previous night's mayhem had taught Ferguson residents a "sad and difficult" lesson that the authorities could not protect them.

Outside Ferguson police station, a racially mixed crowd of 200 protesters chanted slogans at law enforcement. Despite masked agitators on the fringes, most demonstrators were peaceful.

However, some protesters ignored orders to get out of the road and a smoke bomb was tossed at a line of officers.

The authorities had been accused of not doing enough to safeguard private property on Monday night when the National Guard were used mainly to watch over government buildings.

The huge security operation ordered by Governor Jay Nixon seemed to successfully deter any repeat of the arson and looting.

Demonstrations also took place from coast to coast in cities including New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Cleveland.

The continued protests came as Barack Obama announced a nationwide campaign to make sure law enforcement in the US was "fair".

But the President said he had "no sympathy" for people "destroying their own community" through anger at the police.

Tensions boiled over after St Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch announced that a 12-member grand jury had decided not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson over Mr Brown's death.

Mr McCulloch said the jury of nine white and three black people heard more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses, including three medical examiners and experts on blood, toxicology and firearms.

After three months, the panel concluded that Officer Darren Wilson, who testified that he feared for his life, had acted in self-defence.

Officer Wilson said he had a "clean conscience" .

Mr Brown's cousin, Ty Pruitt, told Sky News the decision was like "a mule kick to the gut".

He said the rioting, however, was "absolutely the wrong way to handle things".