Tension persists after teen’s death
Authorities yesterday imposed a midnight curfew for the second night a row in the tense St Louis suburb where an unarmed black teenager was shot to death last week by a police officer.
They blocked off at least one street to vehicle traffic before the Sun even set. The move came as scores of protesters had begun gathering along West Florissant Ave in Ferguson, the site of ongoing protests as well as violence and looting since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot to death on August 9.
Officials plan to decide on a dayby-day basis whether to extend the curfew, imposed on Sunday by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon in an effort to quell protests and looting, Missouri Highway Patrol spokesman Justin Wheetley said.
Earlier yesterday, US Attorney-General Eric Holder ordered a federal autopsy of Brown’s body, seeking to assure the family and community that there will be a thorough investigation into a death that has sparked days of racially charged protests.
Brown, who was black, was shot by white police officer Darren Wilson. The police department in the St Louis suburb has come under strong criticism for both the death of an unarmed man and its handling of the aftermath.
The Highway Patrol captain charged with restoring order told hundreds of people gathered at a local church for a rally yesterday that he was committed to protecting their right to protest.
‘‘I’m sorry,’’ Captain Ron Johnson, who is black, told Brown’s family during remarks that prompted repeated standing ovations at the rally. ‘‘My heart is heavy.’’
Seven protesters were arrested yesterday after failing to disperse as the midnight-to-5am curfew went into effect.
Police used canisters of smoke and later teargas to disperse the crowd, Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman said Al Nothum said.
‘‘It was the minimum amount of force that we could have used to get them moving.’’
A person was shot and critically wounded during the night.
The circumstances of the shooting were not clear, and the shooter had not been found, police said.
Johnson said police were unable to identify the victim, who he said was not shot by police.
Johnson also said someone had shot at a passing police car and was not apprehended.
Nixon said that in spite of the clashes, the curfew was a success and the community deserved credit. Speaking on CNN’s news show State of the Union, the governor said he did not know how long the curfew would be in place.
He criticised the Ferguson police department for its decision on Saturday to release a video that allegedly showed Brown taking part in a convenience store robbery shortly before the shooting.
Police have said the officer who shot Brown had no idea he was a robbery suspect. ‘‘I think it had an incendiary effect,’’ Nixon said on CBS’ Face the Nation.’’ Police ‘‘clearly are attempting to besmirch a victim of a shooting’’.
At yesterday’s rally, some participants referred to the theft of a box of cigars as a shoplifting; police had initially called it a strong-arm robbery.
Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson defended the release of the surveillance video, over the objections of the US Justice Department. Jackson said he was complying with the news media’s requests for information about the case.
The decision to release the video while not giving details of the shooting only fuelled outrage. Clashes in Ferguson have pitted mostly black protesters against mostly white police in a residential and retail district.
In calling for the federal autopsy of Brown’s body, Holder said it would be carried out in addition to one being conducted by state medical examiners. This was ‘‘due to the extraordinary circumstances involved in this case and at the request of the Brown family’’, Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon said.
The family is also planning to have a pathologist carry out an independent examination of the body, a family spokesman said.
President Barack Obama has had regular briefings on the situation in Ferguson while on holiday in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
The US Department of Justice and the St Louis County Police department are investigating Brown’s death, which has been described differently by the police and by a friend who was walking with him at the time.
Police say that after Wilson asked Brown to move out of the road on to a footpath, Brown reached into the patrol car and struggled with Wilson for the officer’s service gun. Wilson, who suffered a facial injury, then shot Brown several times.
The friend, Dorian Johnson, 22, and at least one other witness have said the officer reached out through his car window to grab at Brown and the teenager was trying to get away from the officer when he was shot. Brown held up his hands in a sign of surrender, but the officer got out of his patrol car and shot Brown, they said.