Ferguson plot included assassinations, blowing up arch

Amid an uneasy calm in Ferguson and subdued protests across the US during the Thanksgiving holiday, a plot to blow up St. Louis' Gateway Arch and assassinate the county prosecutor, came to light.

The alleged plot by two men arrested last week on suspicion of acquiring guns and explosives to use at protests in the small St Louis, Missouri, suburb of 22,000, nearly 70 percent of them black, was reported Thursday by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The town exploded into a spree of violence, arson and looting after a grand jury Monday night failed to indict white police Darren Wilson over the August shooting death of an unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown.

The plot also targeted Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson, who told NBC News he "was warned about a plot" by federal agents but was not given details.

The arrests came three days before the verdict in the Brown case,

Meanwhile, in Ferguson volunteers bundled up and painted boards that cover the holes where windows used to be in buildings trashed during the protests, according to CNN affiliate KMOV.

Some members of the family of Michael Brown gathered at his father's place for their first holiday dinner since Brown's death.

There was a chair left empty at the dining room table of Michael Brown Sr., a photo posted to Twitter by Ferguson Action showed, according to CNN.

A shirt with the words "Gone (Too) Soon" was draped over the chair and Brown Sr. wore a shirt that said, "Justice".

The muralists plan Friday to clean up and paint at West Florissant Avenue, the harder-hit shopping strip where two dozen buildings were burned, CNN said.

Officials postponed the Northern Lights celebration - an annual post-Thanksgiving holiday festival - as people waited to see whether tensions would flare again, New York Times reported.

In nearby St. Louis, the unrest forced the city to put off its Thanksgiving Day parade.

In New York, protesters marched along the route of the Macy's parade and seven demonstrators were arrested in attempts to disrupt it.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)