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Activists outraged over a grand jurys decision to not indict a white policeman in the death of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, vowed Thursday to launch a national campaign modeled on the 1960s civil rights movement to press the federal government to intervene in cases of alleged police abuse.

Marches and boycotts led to the '64 Civil Rights Act, Al Sharpton, head of the National Action Network, said after a meeting with other leading activists in his Harlem headquarters. They included Urban League President Marc Morial and Cornell Brooks, the president of the NAACP.

Sharpton said demonstrators needed to centralize their battle and focus on the federal government, and repeated plans for a mass march in Washington on Dec. 13 to launch the movement.

For weeks, scattered protests have been held nightly in cities across the country to protest a string of deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of law enforcement. The demonstrations went into especially high gear after a grand jury in Missouri last month declined to indict white police Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old.

More protests erupted from coast to coast on Wednesday after the 23-member New York grand jury failed to indict New York police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Garner. Garner, 43, died on July 17 after Pantaleo wrapped an arm around his neck during an altercation on a Staten Island sidewalk.

The encounter was caught on video. The city's medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide due to compression of his neck and chest.

While the protests have been boisterous and have led to traffic tie-ups and some arrests, the activists who met in New York on Thursday said they were not enough to bring about the institutional change that is needed.

We need to centralize, Sharpton said, and make clear that we want the Justice Department to deal with the fact that the grand jury systems on a state level are broken.

Morial and Sharpton echoed the disbelief expressed by Garners mother, Gwen Carr, who has repeatedly questioned how jurors who watched the video of Pantaleo pressing Garner's head into the sidewalk as Garner gasped, "I can't breathe" could not find cause to indict him.

Morial called it a travesty of justice.

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Al Sharpton, activists vow new civil rights era after Eric Garner case

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- On Morning Must Read, Bloombergs Brendan Greeley recaps the op-ed pieces and analyst notes that provide insight into today's headlines. Turnaround Author Peter Henry also speaks on Bloomberg Surveillance. (Source: Bloomberg)

Civil-rights leaders called for a national march and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke about how police can avoid confrontations a day after the U.S. Justice Department began investigating the death of a black Staten Island man choked by a white police officer.

A state grand jury yesterday declined to charge Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, 43, whose fatal altercation with police was recorded on video by a bystander. The announcement sparked protests across New York City, a reprise of rallies that swept the U.S. after a Missouri grand jury last week declined to indict an officer in the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson.

The Reverend Al Sharpton, the television host and activist, brought together 25 civil-rights leaders today at his National Action Network in Harlem. Seeking redress on what Sharpton called a dysfunctional state grand jury system will be the focus of a rally in Washington planned for Dec. 13, he said.

We want a centralized march around a broken system that these grand jury decisions have underscored, when even with a videotape you cannot decide whether there is probable cause to go to trial, Sharpton said. A man laying down already surrounded by police choking him, and the man saying, I cant breathe. You cant tell me thats not probable cause to send the case to trial.

People march in protest on the West Side Highway after it was announced that the New York City police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner was not indicted, on Dec. 3, 2014, in New York. Close

People march in protest on the West Side Highway after it was announced that the New... Read More

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People march in protest on the West Side Highway after it was announced that the New York City police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner was not indicted, on Dec. 3, 2014, in New York.

The fact that a grand jury couldnt find even a criminal charge of negligence showed that it was biased in favor of the police, Sharpton said. He was joined by speakers including Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League; Melanie Campbell, chief executive of the Black Womens Roundtable; and Hazel Dukes, New York state president of the NAACP.

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Sharpton Leads Civil-Rights Meeting on Chokehold Decision

Calling state grand jury systems broken, the Rev. Al Sharpton announced a national march on Washington next weekend to protest the lack of indictments against cops in New York City and Ferguson, Missouri, whose actions led to the deaths of black civilians.

Sharpton, speaking from the Harlem headquarter of his National Action Network on Thursday, vowed to put pressure on the federal government to take action in both cases.

We need to centralize and make clear, we want the Justice Department and the federal government to deal with the fact that the grand jury systems on a state level are broken and seem to lack the capacity to deal with police when you are dealing with questions of criminality and killings, he said.

The families of both Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen who was fatally shot by a white Ferguson cop, and Eric Garner, who died after being taken down by a white cop who threw his arm around his neck on Staten Island, will join the leaders of the march on Saturday, Dec. 13.

We want a centralized march around the specific address of a broken system that the grand juries have only underscored, Sharpton said.

He called out the grand jurys decision, released Wednesday, to not indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo despite video footage of the incident.

When even with a videotape you cannot seem to achieve a standard of probable cause A man laying down already surrounded by police, and hes still choking. He said I cant breathe 11 times. If that is not probable cause, then I dont know what probable cause has ever been established, Sharpton said.

The outspoken activist, who has been at the forefront of both cases as an advocate for the families, refused to speculate on how big the march in Washington would be, but compared it to past civil rights protests.

I see it as the sort of marches on Washington and other places that were for policy and repair of what needed to happen, he said, mentioning the marches and boycotts that led to the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

[We] hope this march begins a series of efforts that will lead to how we redo the grand jury review of policing in this country.

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Al Sharpton urges national march on Washington

Al Sharpton has had a lot to say about some of the recent high profile cases involving white and black people. After the Ferguson decision and the recent decision by a Staten Island grand jury to not bring charges against Daniel Pantaleo, a police officer accused of choking a black man, Sharpton is more upset than ever.

He claims that the country is dealing with a national crisis and is hoping to make people more aware of the situation by organizing a march on Washington.

We are dealing with a national crisis, Sharpton said. No amount of secret grand juries with local prosecutors that put up evidence that we do not know is going to stop people from raising the questions and demanding the answers.

Sharpton offered his support to both of the victims families during the trials and afterward and claims to be acting on their behalf and on the behalf of all African Americans.

A week from this Saturday, Dec. 13, we are having a national march in Washington, DC where we are calling for the Justice Department to take this case and the case in Ferguson and the case in Cleveland, he said. It is time for a national march to deal with a national crisis.

While many people are thankful to have him speak and act for them, others have accused Sharpton of instigating the riots and violence associated with these two cases and for causing more harm than good.

Sharpton has been quick to show his disappointment for the recent verdicts and has urged both of the victims family to continue to seek justice. While he is planning for the march to be a peaceful one, there are so many mixed views and opinions as well as emotions involved with these cases, that it seems like a peaceful march will not be likely.

Do you think Al Sharpton causes trouble or is really helping these situations?

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Al Sharpton Organizing March On Washington

Firebrand lawmaker Charles Barron blasted the Rev. Al Sharpton on Wednesday over his cozy relationship with Mayor de Blasio and accused the rabble-rousing reverend of pimping out victims of alleged police brutality.

At a news conference outside the gates of City Hall, Barron who last month won his wifes Assembly seat in Albany said Sharpton sold out the black community by backing de Blasios appointment of NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.

As a matter of fact, de Blasio feels comfortable as though Sharpton speaks for all of us, but Sharpton doesnt speak for all of us, Barron (D-Brooklyn) said.

We are saying to Bill de Blasio: Just because you have Sharpton to support you to bring Bratton in here, dont think that is something the black community wanted. They didnt!

Barron also said Sharpton was exploiting his reputation as an anti-cop activist for personal publicity.

Families call me up all the time. Families need help. They dont want all this politics. They dont want people pimping them for attention, Barron said.

Barron was joined by other minority leaders attacking Sharpton.

Nicholas Heyward Sr. of Parents Against Police Brutality said: It is a very bad thing for him to be that close to the mayor.

Sharpton is doing nothing for the black community. Hes been putting on a show for a long time. He is right now where he wants to get: rubbing elbows with the rich and famous, he added.

Sharptons spokeswoman didnt return a request for comment.

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Barron: Sharpton is too cozy with De Blasio