STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN FERGUSON
A year after fatal shooting, protests turn violent again
FERGUS ON, MO. St. Louis County declared a state of emergency Monday after protests turned violent and 56 people were arrested during the anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.
“In light of last night’s violence and unrest in the city of Ferguson, and the potential for harm to persons and property, I am exercising my authority as county executive to issue a state of emergency effective immediately,” executive Steve Stenger said. “The recent acts of violence will not be tolerated in a community that has worked so tirelessly over the last year to rebuild and become stronger.”
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar is immediately taking control of policing in Ferguson.
Police in St. Louis on Monday arrested dozens of people during protests outside the Thomas F. Eagleton Courthouse. The demonstrations were part of events dubbed #MoralMonday. Clergy members prayed in front of the building and spread oil on it, saying they were anointing it.
Author and activist Cornel West, along with several prominent protesters including DeRay McKesson, 30, and Johnetta Elzie, 26, were arrested. The demonstration was part of a move by clergy members to purposefully be detained by police.
West and others jumped over metal barricades around the building and walked toward officers guarding it. The protestors sat in front of the building ’s entrance and police surrounded the group. Moments later, police began ordering people behind the barricades. They arrested anyone who didn’t comply.
Overnight in Ferguson, at least three people were shot and four arrested as peaceful Sunday protests became violent. Belmar said at a 3:30 a.m. news conference that one suspect who was shot by police is in “critical, unstable” condition in a local hospital and undergoing surgery.
Belmar said that after a shootout between at least six people, the suspect ran away but then shot at police who were chasing him in an unmarked vehicle with emergency lights flashing. Four detectives got out of their car and shot at the suspect, hitting him several times, according to police. All four officers have been placed on administrative leave.
“There is a small group of people out there who are intent on making sure we don’t have peace that prevails,” Belmar said. “That’s just the bottom line on this and that’s just unfortunate. … We can’t afford to have this kind of violence.”
Moments after the shots were fired, a young woman screamed, “They shot my brother.”
St. Louis County Police identified him as Tyrone Harris Jr., of St. Louis. Police charged Harris, 18, with four counts of assault on law enforcement in the first degree, five counts of armed criminal action, and one count of discharging or shooting a firearm at a motor vehicle. Harris, who remained hospitalized and in critical condition, was being held on a $250,000 cash bond.