'Hands up' protest across US over Ferguson

Demonstrators in the US have paid tribute to shot black teen Michael Brown by staging a "Hands Up Walk Out" protest.

Demonstrators in the US have paid tribute to Michael Brown by staging a "Hands Up Walk Out" protest. (AAP)

Protesters around the US have demonstrated with their hands in the air in tribute to Michael Brown, the black teenager killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

As part of the "Hands Up Walk Out" campaign, thousands of protesters gathered at universities and workplaces for midday demonstrations around the time Brown was killed on August 9.

In New York, hundreds of young mostly white students sat for a minute of silence in Times Square before chanting "hands up, don't shoot" and "no justice no peace".

The hands up gesture and the "hands up, don't shoot" slogan have been adopted by protesters in homage to what some witnesses said was Brown's last move before being shot.

"Our communities are hurting and justifiably angered," said Ferguson Action, the group that organised the demonstrations to protest a grand jury's decision not to charge 28-year-old Darren Wilson, the officer who killed Brown.

The group asked protesters to read out the names of "victims of police violence" such as 12-year-old Tamir Rice who was recently gunned down by police officers in Ohio while handling a toy pistol.

The decision not to indict Wilson prompted riots in Ferguson and raised racial tensions across the country last week. Wilson has said he acted in self-defence.