|
 While Ferguson, Missouri had been calmer over the last 24 hours
after local law enforcement was replaced by state police led by an
African-American captain, racially charged protests entered their
sixth night since the Aug. 9 death of Michael Brown.
Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson said police fired a teargas
canister at a crowd near a food and liquor store and broader
violence and looting erupted.
The police reports released earlier did not explain what, if
anything, Brown's suspected theft had to do with the fatal
encounter. There remains little clarity surrounding the moments
leading up to Brown's death.
Police were diverting traffic off a road that has become a major
thoroughfare for demonstrators and a Reuters witness said the smell
of gas drifted through the area.
About 200 people assembled in the area as rain fell, and some
protesters threw bottles at riot gear-clad police who ordered the
crowd to disperse.
Some chanted "hands up, don't shoot", while the Reuters photographer
saw some people break into a handful of retail stores, one of which
was the store Brown was suspected of robbing. Others who tried to
enter the premises were stopped by other protesters.
Local broadcaster KMOV cited police as saying some protesters had
started fires, including one at a store, and that one officer was
hit in head with a bottle or a brick.
"I will say we talked all day about the release of the video tape at
the food mart," Captain Johnson, overseeing security since Thursday,
told KMOV. "We had concerns that this would happen."
CONFUSION OVER KILLING
Hours after the reports' release earlier on Friday, police said that
Officer Darren Wilson, 28, had no idea 18-year-old Brown was a
robbery suspect. He simply wanted Brown to move from the road to the
sidewalk, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told a news conference.
Jackson's announcements sowed confusion. After releasing the robbery
incident report without any attempt to explain its fuller context,
he let more than five hours pass before confirming, and only when
asked, that Wilson did not know about the robbery when he
encountered Brown.
The decision by the police department, which is overwhelmingly
white, to release a report on the robbery while keeping details of
the shooting secret only added to the frustration felt by many in
the St. Louis area.
[to top of second column]
|
After identifying Wilson as the officer involved in the shooting,
the Ferguson police chief described him as a "gentleman" who has
been devastated by the incident. Wilson worked four of his six years
as an officer on the Ferguson police force, Jackson said.
Wilson's identity has been kept a secret since the shooting despite
mounting pressure to both identify the officer and to provide
details about the investigation.
A Brown family attorney said it appeared to be Brown in the
convenience store's security-camera footage, which showed a man
shoving a store clerk during an apparent robbery.
Anthony Gray, a Brown family attorney, said the talk of a robbery
was a "distraction" raised by police. He said the real issue was why
Wilson shot an unarmed Brown as the teenager held his arms in the
air in a sign of surrender, as two witnesses described.
In response to demonstrations that turned violent earlier this week,
U.S. President Barack Obama said he asked the Department of Justice
and the FBI to investigate the killing independently.
The agencies on Friday said agents and attorneys had interviewed
multiple witnesses and would seek information in the coming days
from people who have not yet come forward.
(Additional reporting by Jason McLure in St. Louis, Brendan O'Brien
in Milwaukee, Carey Gillam in Kansas City, and Jonathan Allen,
Curtis Skinner in New York and Lucas Jackson in Ferguson, Missouri;
Writing by Carey Gillam and Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Eric Beech
and Erica Billingham)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
