Brown Cousin: Ruling Was 'Kick In The Gut'
America is not ready to have the conversation it needs about race following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, according to the black teenager's cousin.
Ty Pruitt has urged protesters to remain peaceful - even though he says he can understand why there is such anger over the decision not prosecute white police officer Darren Wilson.
A grand jury in Missouri decided there were no grounds for an indictment against the 28-year-old officer for shooting Mr Brown dead in Ferguson in August.
Mr Pruitt says the black and white communities need to come together to discuss the way forward but that black anger and white shame and fear will prevent that.
He told Sky News: "It needs to be a world conversation. It is our time to either grow or get left behind and we have to make that choice on where we're going to be as a nation.
"I don't think anybody in this country is ready to answer that question yet."
He described the grand jury's decision as a "kick in the gut" and it has provoked protests across the country, notably in the Californian cities of Los Angeles and Oakland.
Los Angeles saw America's deadliest riots for a century in 1992 after police officers were cleared of using excessive force in their handling of Rodney King. His beating after a traffic stop was recorded on video by a neighbour.
Oakland witnessed riots after the killing of Oscar Grant by a transport police officer who said he grabbed his gun instead of his Taser. He was cleared of murder.
Civil rights leaders say efforts at reform have not gone far enough.
They point to the death Ezell Ford, an unarmed black man with mental health issues. He was shot dead by LAPD officers in August this year, just as Ferguson was erupting.
Sister Lita Herron, who witnessed the LA riots of 1965 and 1992 and now works for an end to the violence, said: "We have made progress. The problem is that because of other incidents in other cities, our natural inclination is to distrust law enforcement period.
"Just because we have made progress in Los Angeles it doesn't mean that everybody trusts the LAPD."