Hands held up symbol of support for Michael Brown across America

Five St. Louis Rams NFL players entered the football field with their hands raised. A day later, Americans walked out of work or school showing the same gesture of solidarity with Ferguson protesters after a grand jury decided not to indict the white officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old.

The pose has come to symbolise a movement, even though witnesses offered conflicting accounts of whether Brown had his hands up in surrender when he was killed by Darren Wilson.

Protests turned violent last week in the St Louis area after a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson for shooting Brown during an August confrontation that had inflamed racial tensions across America.

The power of the symbol was evident again on Monday. Protesters across the US walked off the job or away from class in support of the Ferguson protesters. Walkouts took place in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere. At the University of Missouri-St. Louis, not far from Ferguson, about 30 students chanted "Hands up. Don't shoot!"

Amber Whitaker, who is white, was among the student protesters. She said the symbolism is what matters, not whether Brown literally had his hands in the air.

"There are black men and women who are shot with their hands up," Whitaker said. "There are black men and women who are shot unarmed. It may not apply exactly to Mike Brown, but it still happens."

The exact circumstances surrounding Brown's death will forever be in dispute.