Ferguson, MO – Missouri’s governor said on Monday he would send the National Guard into the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson to restore calm after authorities forcibly dispersed a crowd protesting last week’s fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen by police.
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Gov. Jay Nixon signed an executive order deploying the U.S. state militia, saying demonstrators had thrown Molotov cocktails and shot at police as well as a civilian, a description of the night’s events diverging widely from some eyewitness accounts.
“Tonight, a day of hope, prayers, and peaceful protests was marred by the violent criminal acts of an organized and growing number of individuals, many from outside the community and state, whose actions are putting the residents and businesses of Ferguson at risk,” Nixon said in a statement on his website.
A midnight curfew was imposed for the second night in the tense St. Louis suburb hit by racially charged demonstrations, violence and looting since Michael Brown, 18, was shot to death on Aug. 9 by white police officer Darren Wilson.
At around dusk on Sunday, hundreds of protesters in Ferguson including families with young children fled to safety after police wearing gas masks and body armor fired tear gas and smoke canisters to scatter them hours ahead of the curfew.
“The smoke bombs were completely unprovoked,” said Anthony Ellis, 45. “It (the protest) was led by kids on bikes. Next you know they’re saying, ‘Go home, Go home!'”
The Missouri Highway Patrol said “aggressors” were trying to infiltrate a law enforcement command post and that armored vehicles were deployed to ensure public safety.
“We ordered them back. We ordered them back again. After several attempts, we utilized the smoke to disperse these individuals,” said Highway Patrol Corporal Justin Wheetley.
State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson told a late night news briefing: “Molotov cocktails were thrown, there were shootings, looting, vandalism and other acts of violence that clearly appear not to have been spontaneous.”
He was explaining the police tactics against what he said had to that point been a peaceful demonstration.
“Coordinated acts” by a few in the crowd were “premeditated criminal acts designed … to provoke a response,” Johnson said. “I had no alternative but to elevate the level of our response.”
He noted most of the protesters were peaceful and blamed the trouble on “a few people bent on violence and destruction.”
Johnson said the trouble began after police responded to the shooting of a civilian at 8.25 p.m., which was followed by gunfire directed towards police and Molotov cocktails being thrown. At least one other person was shot, and several were arrested. No police were injured.
Officials said Ferguson schools would be closed on Monday.
PRIVATE, FEDERAL AUTOPSIES
A preliminary private autopsy, asked for by Brown’s family, showed the teenager was shot at least six times, the New York Times reported on Sunday night.
Quoting Michael M. Baden, former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, the newspaper reported that Brown was shot twice in the head, and that the bullets that hit him did not appear to have been fired from very close range because no gunpowder was detected on his body.
Brown’s family was set to appear with Baden on Monday morning in St. Louis to address the autopsy’s findings.
Earlier on Sunday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ordered a federal autopsy of Brown’s body, seeking to assure the family and community there will be a thorough investigation.
Police say Brown was asked by Wilson to move off the road and onto a sidewalk and that Brown reached into a patrol car and struggled with Wilson for his service gun and was shot.
A friend of Brown’s, Dorian Johnson, 22, and at least one other witness said Wilson reached out through his car window to grab at Brown and the teenager was trying to get away when shot. Brown held up his hands in a sign of surrender but Wilson got out of his patrol car and shot Brown several times, they said.
Police in Ferguson have come under strong criticism for Brown’s death and their handling of the aftermath.
On Saturday night they also used smoke canisters and tear gas to drive away protesters who refused to leave the area when the midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew began. Seven protesters were arrested after failing to disperse.
As disturbances continued in Missouri, 500 people protested outside police headquarters in Los Angeles on Sunday over the shooting death of an unarmed black man in California a week ago.
That rally was peaceful, with many holding up signs reading, “Hands up, don’t shoot,” in reference to witness reports that Brown had his hands up when he was shot in Ferguson.
I have no problem with the investigation of the facts, and having the officer charged with murder if the facts support that. There is no justification for murder. I have a serious problem with violent protests.
For those old enough to recall the riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King, the rage among the Black community was understandable. However, the release of that rage on the cities across America by burning, looting, and violence was unacceptable. One major city, Philadelphia, which has a sizable Black community, was silent. No riots, no violence. The Mayor got on the news stations on TV and radio, and declared a curfew, noting that his police force would be present, and are instructed to prevent rioting by “shooting to kill”. One cannot successfully control the savage, uncontrolled rage with tear gas. Until one makes the point that looting etc. carries the enforcement by live ammunition, rioters feel they have the right to damage others because they are angry. That mayor was correct, and successful.
I suggested over a week ago that the Missouri National Guard be deployed. The problem is that the local, county and state highway patrol personnel are not well trained in crowd control. In 1967, the New Jersey National Guard was sent into Newark, NJ to restore order, following civil disorders. Also, in 1967, federal army troops were sent into Detroit, to contain large scale rioting. The California National Guard was also sent into Watts (LA) in 1965, to stop a looting and destruction. It should have also been deployed in 1992, in LA, following the Rodney King riots. However, the LAPD, and the state authorities bungled that response. In EY, and European countries, water cannons are also used to contain large crowds.
Lawlessness can under no circumstances be tolerated. If this is how black communities react to what they consider bad news how the hell can be have respect for them.? I only wished that the National Guard had be called out (with live ammo ) during the 1991 Crown Heights riots when the inept Mayor refused to enforce the law.
How long is this going to go on for, before they finally crush the whole thing? If this continues, there will be nothing left of the town, the rioters will destroy the whole place. Why don’t they just chill out and let justice run its course, it will.
I remember in the LA riots where they were driving up in down the San Fernando valley, and people were sitting on the roofs of their homes with rifles so they don’t start fires in their neighbor hood or homes. This riot also started because an alcoholic drugged up person was driving at excess speeds and may kill some one, and the police beat him because he refused to do what they said. That was the reason some people almost wanted to burn Los Angeles down and started fires in the Valley that had nothing to do with any of that. Then rifles were a comfort and gun sales soared at that time.