Ferguson Michael Brown Shooting: 'Boycott Black Friday' Aims to Hit America Where it Hurts

Momentum is building on social media to boycott the Black Friday sales in order to hit corporate America "where it hurts" over the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown.

The Justice for Michael Brown Leadership Coalition is organising the 'No Justice, No Profit' boycott campaign on Thanksgiving Day (27 November), through to Sunday. Black Friday is traditionally the day that kicks off the Christmas buying period with retailers across America offering big discounts to jump-start the busiest shopping days of the year.

Dacia Polk, of the New Black Panther Party, said the coalition wants the whole of St Louis to participate in the boycott this weekend.

"We are asking you to withdraw your participation the entire weekend," she said. "There will not be business as usual in America while our people are being killed."

"The death of Michael Brown was groundless, was senseless, it was a miscarriage of Mr Darren Wilson's legal duty to serve and protect," said the Rev Spencer Lamar Booker, pastor of St Paul AME Church. "No matter how convoluting his and others' attempt to make a legal argument, an illegal act was committed called murder."

It follows the grand jury's decision not to indict Wilson for the shooting of Brown, which has sparked huge protests in the town of Ferguson. St Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch said the jury reached its decision on the basis "no probable cause exists" to charge the officer over the killing of the unarmed teenager on 9 August.

Brown's family said they were "profoundly disappointed" by the decision.

"While we understand that many others share our pain, we ask that you channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change," the family added.

The boycott campaign has received increasing support from people via Twitter and Instagram.