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Ferguson, Missouri (CNN) -- Some people here just wanted the drama to end. Others say it can never end, not as long as a white cop can shoot an unarmed black teenager to death without consequences.
On the street in front of Ferguson's police station on Monday night, the tension crackled as hundreds of people awaited a grand jury's decision and chanted demands for an indictment.
They were denied.
No indictment, the grand jury said.
Officer Darren Wilson will not be charged in the August 9 killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
A man kneels in the middle of a street and yells at police before being arrested outside the police department in Ferguson, Missouri, on Saturday, November 29. Ferguson has struggled to return to normal since Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, on August 9. The grand jury's decision not to indict Wilson prompted new waves of protests in Ferguson and across the country.
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"They don't care about black people," said Danielle Hines, in the throng outside the police station. "They treat us like criminals. This is what it feels like to be black in America."
The crowd surged toward metal gates in front of the station. Some people were crying; many were angry. They threw their hands up and screamed. A chant arose, " F*ck the police!"
They were met by a phalanx of cops in full riot gear.
"No justice, no peace!"
It soon turned ugly. Protesters turned their rage on police vehicles and boarded-up storefronts. The air was heavy with noxious gas. Police denied it was tear gas, but CNN reporters insisted they had been tear-gassed.
Brown's shooting death ignited two weeks of violent protests last summer in Ferguson and rekindled the national debate on race and the criminal justice system. Supporters of Brown's family backed witness accounts that Wilson fired while Brown had his hands up in surrender. Wilson's supporters say that Brown was the aggressor and the officer fired in self-defense after the teen tried to take his gun.
What's next for Officer Darren Wilson?
'I'm scared. This is so sad'
The emotional response to the grand jury decision spoke to issues far larger than Ferguson -- to America's deep racial divisions.
Deidre Johnson, who is raising four boys, had tears in her eyes as she learned the grand jury's decision.
"I just know they can't walk on our streets," she said. "I'm scared. This is so sad."
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Another mother echoed her feelings. "I hate this for our youth," said Shellie Robinson, who has a 19-year-old son. "We've been fighting for 100 days. This breaks my heart."
The head of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which for decades has fought racial injustice in the Deep South, said Ferguson underscores a flawed and biased justice system.
"The events in Ferguson have made vivid just how wide the gulf is between the police and those who are policed in so many communities in our country," said Richard Cohen. "It's a gulf that's been formed by the history of discrimination in our country, a gulf that has been deepened by the systemic biases in our current criminal justice system. It's a gulf that breeds suspicion and mistrust, a gulf that undermines the very legitimacy of our system of justice."
President Barack Obama, speaking after the announcement, said: "We need to recognize that the situation in Ferguson speaks to broader challenges that we still face as a nation."
At Morehouse College in Atlanta, about 200 students chanted: "Ferguson's hell is America's hell." They chanted the names of other black men and women killed by police and quoted civil rights hero the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
His daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, had hoped people would rise above anger and make history.
"Decades from now, what do we want historians to write about this moment?" she asked. She urged protesters to speak up, but refrain from violence.
"Historians, 40 years from now, can reflect that we decided to live in such a way that humanity could continue," she said. "Nonviolence 365 (days a year) is the choice that we must make. The alternative may well be a civilization plunged into the abyss of annihilation."
Protests spread far beyond Ferguson
'This is our moment, St. Louis'
Another religious leader, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson, echoed calls for a restrained reaction. "This is our moment, St. Louis," he said several hours before the grand jury's findings were announced. "Whatever the grand jury decides, we can be an example for the rest of the world. Everyone is watching what we will do next, and violence is not the answer."
Tory Wilson, co-founder of the "Hands Up United" organization, urged calm and restraint -- by the police.
"I'm urging calm for the police officers to not pepper spray me, tear gas me, mace me and shoot rubber bullets," he said. "People need to urge the police to be calm. Stop hurting kids, stop traumatizing our communities."
Many questioned why, given the volatile emotions on the streets, prosecutors waited until long after darkness fell to announce the decision.
Tension had been building in Ferguson for days. A crowd gathered outside police headquarters Monday evening, chanting, "Indict that cop!" and "Tell me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like!"
Complete coverage of what's happening in Ferguson
Ray Lewis stood out among the demonstrators. He was white, and he wore a police uniform. He carried a sign that said, "Police: try love."
A retired police captain from Philadelphia, Lewis came to support the protesters and draw attention to what he considers excessive use of force by police across the country.
"I wanted to bring a white police captain's face to show people in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, that too often blacks are shown as rioting and as criminals. And that is just not true," he said. "Think twice about judging these people."
He insisted he wasn't anti-cop. "I am anti-corrupt cop," he said.
He was surrounded by people chanting, "Mike Brown! Mike Brown!"
He said there's a lot of truth to what's being said about white cops not hesitating to pull the trigger on young black men. Police should recruit officers more sensitive to racial issues, Lewis said. Otherwise, police can be perceived as an occupying force.
"There's a thousand Fergusons all over America."
Read Wilson's grand jury testimony
CNN's John Blake reported from Atlanta.
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Members of the NAACP and other demonstrators march up Chambers Avenue in Ferguson, Missouri, on Saturday, November 29. The NAACP has organized a "Journey of Justice" march from Ferguson, Missouri, to the Missouri governor's residence in Jefferson City over the next seven days, a march of 120 miles.
Police confront demonstrators outside the police station in Ferguson, Missouri, on Friday, November 28.
The Rev. Carlton Lee of Flood Christian Church, which was torched in the wake of the grand jury's decision in the Michael Brown shooting, speaks during a Thanksgiving service at Wellspring Church in Ferguson, Missouri, on Thursday, November 27.
Neighbors paint a boarded-up storefront in Ferguson on November 27.
An officer redirects traffic as police keep part of a street closed in Ferguson on November 27.
Members of the National Guard man a checkpoint at a Ferguson shopping mall on November 27.
National Guard troops, who were called up by Gov. Jay Nixon to help maintain order, help with security at the mall on Wednesday, November 26.
National Guard troops are seen in Ferguson on November 26.
Nick Ahmad, owner of Elite Liquor, peers out of the store's door while waiting for customers on November 26. Ahmad paid $3,000 to hire several residents from the community to stand guard outside his business and deter looters.
Snow falls as the Missouri National Guard watches protesters outside of the Ferguson Police Department on November 26.
A protester is helped after being pepper-sprayed on November 26.
A protester holds her hands up in front of police on Tuesday, November 25.
Police arrest a protester November 25.
Protesters vandalize a police vehicle outside Ferguson City Hall on November 25.
Police stand guard near Ferguson City Hall during protests on November 25.
Smoke engulfs a police officer on November 25.
Police take a protester into custody on November 25.
Protesters stand across the street from the Ferguson Police Department on November 25.
Protesters face off against a police officer on November 25.
Protesters link arms in front of the Ferguson Police Department on November 25.
National Guard troops secure the police station in Ferguson on November 25.
Police officers walk past the smoldering remains of a beauty supply store on November 25.
A woman cleans up glass from a business' shattered window on November 25.
A Ferguson firefighter surveys rubble at a strip mall that was set on fire overnight.
Protesters run away after police deployed tear gas in Ferguson on Monday, November 24.
Police take position during clashes with protesters on November 24.
A protester stands in front of police vehicles with his hands up on November 24.
Police in riot gear move past a burning vehicle on November 24.
A looter in Ferguson walks out of a burning Walgreens on November 24.
Riot police clash with protesters on November 24.
Firefighters work on extinguishing a Little Caesars restaurant on November 24.
Smoke fills the streets of Ferguson as buildings burn on November 24.
Police officers grab a protester on November 24.
A woman treats her face for possible tear gas exposure on November 24.
People walk away from a burning storage facility on November 24.
A man steps out of a vandalized store on November 24.
A police officer runs by a burning police car on November 24.
Police officers stand guard as protesters confront them on November 24.
Protesters block streets in St. Louis after the announcement of the grand jury's decision on November 24. Ferguson is a suburb of St. Louis.
Police confront protesters in Ferguson on November 24.
A police officer points his rifle at demonstrators on November 24.
Protesters run for shelter as smoke fills the streets of Ferguson on November 24.
The glass windows of a store are shattered on November 24.
A demonstrator listens to a car radio as the grand jury's decision is delivered in front of the Ferguson Police Department.
Lesley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown, is escorted away from the Ferguson Police Department on November 24.
A group of protesters vandalizes a police vehicle in Ferguson on November 24.
Police officers confront protesters on November 24.
Demonstrators block traffic during a protest in front of the Ferguson Police Department on November 24.
Demonstrators gather outside the police station on November 24. The man in the green sleeves is Michael Brown's stepfather, Louis Head. In a video of the scene from the New York Times, Brown consoles a tearful McSpadden and then tells the crowd to "burn this mother f---er down."
Protesters gather as they wait for the announcement of the grand jury decision on November 24.
Members of the media line up in a parking lot across from the Buzz Westfall Justice Center on November 24.
Residents begin to gather at the Michael Brown memorial ahead of the grand jury announcement.
National Guard troops arrive ahead of the grand jury announcement.
Members of the Missouri National Guard are escorted out of the Buzz Westfall Justice Center.
Demonstrators are confronted by police as they block a street before the grand jury announcement.
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