It started with silence as the crowd strained to listen to the prosecutor over the radio. Then tears gushed from the eyes of Michael Brown's mother.

No indictment. The white police officer who shot dead her unarmed 18-year-old son more than three months ago in the predominantly African American suburb of Ferguson outside St. Louis, Missouri would not face trial.

Within minutes, blind rage would take hold. Agitators went on the rampage, smashing windows, looting stores, attacking a police car and torching buildings.