Grand Jury Hearing Michael Brown Case Monday

Ferguson, Mo. – According to Zachary Roth and Aliyah Frumin of MSNBC, sources told NBC News that the grand jury now is planning to meet on Monday.  A grand jury vote had been expected as early as Saturday in the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown.

Public safety units, including police and fire, have eased back on their alert status, multiple sources told NBC News. And 12 hour police shifts that had been planned for Saturday are now expected to begin Sunday.

President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder have urged calm ahead of the grand jury decision on whether to charge police officer Darren Wilson with a crime in the Aug. 9 shooting of Brown. Still, authorities, residents and businesses here are bracing for unrest.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ferguson-braces-unrest-ahead-grand-jury-decision

NFL Now Says Prayer Was OK

Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah was penalized by a game official when he knelt to pray after scoring a touchdown Monday night.  However, the penalty was mistaken, said an N.F.L. spokesperson on Tuesday.

Abdullah, who is Muslim, intercepted a pass by Tom Brady and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown against the New England Patriots.

After he entered the end zone, he slid on his knees and bowed forward in prayer.  He was given a 15-yard penalty for “unsportsmanlike conduct.”

An N.F.L. spokesman said Tuesday that Abdullah should not have been penalized. “Officiating mechanic is not to flag player who goes to ground for religious reasons,” Michael Signora, the spokesman said.

The Chiefs won regardless, 41-14.