Police used tear gas and smoke bombs to repel crowds who
threw Molotov cocktails during another violent night on the
Hours earlier, the police chief had said race relations were
the top priority in the town, where a white police officer fatally shot the
black teen. Authorities have vowed to reach across the racial, economic and
generational divide in a community in search of answers.
In the streets of Ferguson, though, the polite dialogue
heard at community forums and news conferences is nowhere to be found.
Instead, officers from multiple departments in riot gear and
in military equipment have clashed nightly with protesters, who chant,
"Hands up, don't shoot." Wednesday saw more tense confrontations and
further volleys of tear gas from police — this time paired with smoke bombs in
response to flaming projectiles and other objects lobbed from the crowd.
Protesters faced heavily armed police who at times trained weapons on them from
armored trucks.
Two reporters said they were detained by police for not
clearing out quickly enough from a McDonald's where they were working, near the
protests but away from the more volatile areas. Wesley Lowery, a Washington Post political reporter, and
Ryan Reilly, a Huffington Post justice reporter, were arrested in a McDonald's
shortly before 8 p.m. EDT. Police entered the restaurant and told patrons to
leave, the reporters wrote on Twitter after their release. The police then
asked Lowery and Reilly for their identification and, according to the
reporters, arrested them because they weren't packing their bags fast enough.
Lowery also said the police officers "assaulted"
him. "Officers slammed me into a fountain soda machine because I was
confused about which door they were asking me to walk out of," he wrote on
Twitter. Lowery also said that he and Reilly were released without paperwork or
charges, and that the officers refused to provide the reporters with their
names.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that about 10 people
had been arrested, including St. Louis Alderman Antonio French, who has been
chronicling the protests on social media. Police had said earlier they would
not have arrest information until early Thursday.
The White House said President Barack Obama — who is on
vacation on the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard — was briefed late
Wednesday on the situation in Ferguson by Attorney General Eric Holder and
senior adviser Valerie Jarrett. Obama has another briefing scheduled for
Thursday morning.
Residents in Ferguson have complained about what they called
a heavy-handed police presence that began with the use of dogs for crowd
control soon after Brown's shooting — a tactic that for some invoked the
specter of civil rights protests a half-century ago. The county police force
took over leading both the investigation of Brown's shooting and the subsequent
attempts to keep the peace at the smaller city's request.
County Police Chief Jon Belmar, though, said his officers
have responded with "an incredible amount of restraint," as they've
been the targets of rocks, bottles and gunshots, with two dozen patrol vehicles
being destroyed.
Police had also asked earlier that people assemble in
"an organized and respectful" manner and disperse before evening.
The city and county are also under criticism for refusing to
release the name of the officer involved in Brown's shooting, citing threats
against that officer and others.
Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson called improving race
relations "the top priority right now" but also said he won't be
pressured into publicly identifying the officer — despite, he said, mounting
demands from clergy, computer hackers and protesters.
"We have the right to know, and the family has the
right to know who murdered their son," said Sahari Gutierrez, a
27-year-old Ferguson legal assistant.
Jackson said he welcomes Justice Department training on
racial relations in the suburb, where two-thirds of the 21,000 residents are black
while all but three of the police force's 53 officers are white.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon cited the "worsening
situation" in Ferguson in saying he would be in the area Thursday. He
asked community members to be patient and calm while the investigation proceeds
and urged law enforcement agencies to "keep the peace and respect the
rights of residents and the press."
Jackson said the investigation remains weeks away from
completion.
Police have said Brown was shot after an officer encountered
him and another man on the street. They say one of the men pushed the officer
into his squad car, then physically assaulted him in the vehicle and struggled
with the officer over the officer's weapon. At least one shot was fired inside
the car.
The struggle then spilled onto the street, where Brown was
shot multiple times. In their initial news conference about the shooting,
police didn't specify whether Brown was the person who scuffled with the
officer in the car and have refused to clarify their account.
Jackson said Wednesday that the officer involved sustained
swelling facial injuries.
Dorian Johnson, who says he was with Brown when the shooting
happened, has told a much different story. He has told media outlets that the
officer ordered them out of the street, then tried to open his door so close to
the men that it "ricocheted" back, apparently upsetting the officer.
Johnson says the officer grabbed his friend's neck, then
tried to pull him into the car before brandishing his weapon and firing. He
says Brown started to run and the officer pursued him, firing multiple times.
Johnson and another witness both say Brown was on the street with his hands
raised when the officer fired at him repeatedly.
Among the protesters critical of the police response has
been state Sen. Maria Chapelle-Nadal, a Democrat from nearby University City
"I just want to know if I'm going to be gassed again,
like I was on Monday night?" she asked Jackson at a press conference.
"And I was peaceful. And I'm your state senator."
"I hope not," he replied.
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