Protesters angered by the dismissal of murder charges against two white men accused of killing a black man with a pickup truck rallied Monday outside an courthouse in the U.S. state of Texas, demanding a federal review of the charges.
About 150 showed up for the protest Monday outside an East Texas courthouse, local media reported. Protesters said they wanted to show their anger at a pattern of unequal justice for whites and blacks in Paris, some 90 miles (144 km) northeast of Dallas, Texas.
Last week, a special prosecutor, citing a lack of eyewitnesses and physical evidence, had charges dismissed against Shannon Finley and Charles Crostley, who were accused of killing their black friend Brandon McClelland.
McClelland's mangled body was found last September on a country road. He was believed to have been dragged beneath a vehicle.
Finley and Crostley were released Thursday with no restrictions after more than eight months in jail.
Some protesters have compared McClelland's death to the East Texas dragging death of James Byrd.
Byrd, also a black, was dragged to death by three white men in Jasper, Texas, in a racially motivated hate crime in 1998. All three men were convicted of Byrd's murder, with two receiving the death penalty and the third man sentenced to life in prison.