7 held as Ferguson crisis rages on
Print Edition
SEVEN people were arrested early yesterday as police used smoke and tear gas against protesters who defied a curfew in a St Louis suburb where a black teen walking down the street had been shot by a white police officer.
Police moved armored vehicles down the street in Ferguson, Missouri in the United States, just after the start of the curfew yesterday. They used smoke and tear gas on protesters who refused to move back, essentially ending the confrontation nearly an hour after the midnight curfew. Seven people were arrested for failure to disperse.
Saturday marked a week since a white Ferguson officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9. The shooting ignited racial tension in the mostly-black suburb and has led to looting and several run-ins between police and protesters.
Patrol Captain Ron Johnson said the timing of police action yesterday was coincidental.
Police received a report that people broke into a barbecue restaurant and some were on the roof — creating a potential danger for officers trying to disperse the protesters. Police were responding to that report — not the fact that protesters were still on the street after curfew, Johnson said.
Things got worse when a man with a handgun went into the street as police were nearing the restaurant. He ran away, but there was plenty of violence. A man was shot and critically wounded in the same area. Police were searching for the shooter. Someone shot at a police car — it wasn’t clear if it was hit.
Hundreds of other protesters left peacefully before the curfew took effect. But remaining protesters — chanting “No justice! No curfew!” — refused to leave the area.
As officers put on gas masks, a chant from the distant crowd emerged: “We have the right to assemble peacefully.” A moment later, police began firing canisters into the crowd of protesters.
Highway Patrol spokesman Lieutenant John Hotz initially said police only used smoke, but later said they also fired tear gas canisters.
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