FERGUSON, Mo. — While the family of Michael Brown was expected to speak at a news conference on Tuesday, they did not. In their place, their attorneys Benjamin Crump and Anthony Gray and the Rev. Al Sharpton spoke.
Crump said the Brown family objects to the grand jury’s decision to not indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. According to Crump, Wilson “indicted himself.”
“Most of what he said didn’t line up with the physical or forensic evidence,” Crump said.
Crump called for the nation to support a Michael Brown law, in which every police officer in the country would be required to wear body cameras.
“We took a blow,” he said. “Some people said it was a fixed fight.”
Gray criticized St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch‘s handling of the case. Gray suggested Wilson was not indicted because the prosecutor’s office chose not to present evidence that would indict him.
“If they would have presented evidence to indict, then there would have been an indictment,” Gray told reporters in St. Louis. The grand jury’s decision, he said, is a “direct reflection of those who presented the evidence.”
Sharpton also blasted McCulloch, saying he tried more to discredit Brown than to explain why Wilson was not indicted. He called McCulloch’s news conference irresponsible and unnecessarily provocative.
He also slammed McCulloch’s statement that there were inconsistencies in witness testimony, arguing that there was no opportunity for cross-examination.
“What may sound like inconsistencies is only responding to what was asked. If there (were) two sides, then maybe some of the gaps would have been filled,” Sharpton said.
“We are not surprised at what the outcome was,” Sharpton said. “You have broken our hearts but you have not broken our backs.”
While the Brown family did not speak at Tuesday’s news conference, they did release a statement Monday night.
“We are profoundly disappointed that the killer of our child will not face the consequence of his actions.
While we understand that many others share our pain, we ask that you channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change. We need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen.
Join with us in our campaign to ensure that every police officer working the streets in this country wears a body camera.
We respectfully ask that you please keep your protests peaceful. Answering violence with violence is not the appropriate reaction.
Let’s not just make noise, let’s make a difference.”
Their call for peace fell on deaf ears, however. At least 12 buildings were burned in Ferguson. Police vehicles were set on fire and melted in the street. An Auto Buy Credit car dealership had cars burned in the lot. Some of the demonstrators were armed. Firefighters could not approach fires because they were concerned for their safety.
Many watched and felt sickened as some in the crowd rocked police cars, smashed the windows of a liquor store and a McDonalds with a baseball bat. A beauty supply store that peaceful protesters initially tried to protect by blocking the building was burned beyond recognition.
Hospitals reported treating at least 14 people injured in the unrest.
Gov. Jay Nixon has ordered more National Guardsmen to Ferguson. The Guard is providing security at the Ferguson Police Department. Meanwhile, FOX 2 in St. Louis reports that a former mayor of Ferguson is calling for Governor Nixon to resign saying he should have sent more National Guard into Ferguson to protect city.
“The worst came and they weren’t prepared,” said Former Mayor Brian Fletcher.
After the decision was announced, some living in Ferguson wept.
“We just hoped that for one time that our lives would matter,” said one woman visibly upset after the decision was announced. “That somebody would see that our lives are valuable, but it didn’t happen that way just like it hasn’t happened before.”
“They put their badge on and they exploit their power,” said a man at the scene of the gathering outside the who was holding a small child in his arms. 
