Ferguson protesters march from Chicago's Magnificent Mile to Wicker Park

CHICAGO -- People upset over this week's grand jury decision in Ferguson, Mo., took their protest to Black Friday shoppers.

Nearly 500 protesters marched in a St. Louis mall, forcing managers to shut it down for a short time. A smaller protest in Chicago had hundreds marching from the Mag Mile to Wicker Park.

PHOTOS: Ferguson protesters march from Chicago's Mag Mile to Wicker Park

They gathered on the city's most dazzling commercial thoroughfare to denounce consumerism and asked shoppers to spare a thought for Michael Brown - and others they said have been "assassinated" by police who care more for protecting the moneyed class than average people.

"The fact that racism is still here, like for hundreds of years, is pushing people to the limit," said S.J. Parizo, a protester from Vermont.

The crowd swelled to nearly 50 strong at one point. It moved through Lincoln Park, maintaining that keeping wallets shut would be a show of solidarity for Mike Brown, the unarmed, black, 18-year-old shot by Ferguson police in August. A grand jury decided this week that no charges would be filed against the shooter, Officer Darren Wilson.

Victoria Alvarez, a protester who marched in Chicago on Friday, said not shopping would draw attention "to this issue - to the fact that they don't care about us."

"They care about commerce, consuming more than people," Alvarez said.

Escorted by police, the activists - many from the Occupy Chicago movement - eventually reached Wicker Park.

"If the police force, not just in Ferguson but in Chicago and across the country, is more concerned about protecting window glass than protecting the body of a black boy, then that is a system that I don't want to give a single dime to," said Kristiana Colon, Executive Director of the #LetUsBreathe Collective.

About half of the group then carried on to a Walmart store on Chicago's West Side, about another 3.5 miles west of Wicker Park. Walmart, they maintained, was among the worst of corporate citizens for enticing consumers with bargains made possible through low wages.

"We want to travel to a community that shares a similar economic profile to which Mike Brown lived," Colon said.