Ferguson on high alert after cops face gunfire
Authorities in Ferguson, Mo., braced for more violent confrontations with protesters last night after officials there declared a state of emergency and dozens of activists blocked rush-hour traffic on a busy interstate highway.
“Chief (Jon) Belmar shall exercise all powers and duties necessary to preserve order, prevent crimes, and protect the life and property of our citizens,” St. Louis County Executive Steve Strenger said in a statement issued yesterday afternoon. It came hours after gunfire marred an otherwise peaceful weekend of protests marking the first anniversary of the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer.
“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,” Strenger said of an 18-year-old man who was shot and critically wounded by officers Sunday night after allegedly opening fire on Ferguson police. “The time and investment in Ferguson and (neighboring) Dellwood will not be destroyed by a few that wish to violate the rights of others.”
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, in a statement, called Sunday’s violence “a sad turn of events.”
Hours after 57 protesters demanding the dissolution of the Ferguson Police Department were arrested outside the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in St. Louis, lines of activists joined hands and set up barricades on Interstate 70 in Earth City, blocking traffic on both sides of the highway.
Traffic was reduced to a standstill for about an hour before police managed to clear protesters, some of whom refused to move and were arrested, officials said.
One driver was seen slowly maneuvering an SUV through a line of people, with a protester kicking at the vehicle’s door as it made its way through the roadblock.
Stenger’s emergency order effectively put county police in charge of security around the protests, rather than Ferguson police, who have been a regular target at demonstrations since Brown, who was black, was killed by a white officer.
Tyrone Harris of Northwoods, accused of opening fire on police on West Florissant Avenue Sunday night, was charged yesterday with four counts of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, five counts of armed criminal action and shooting at or from a motor vehicle. Harris, who was still hospitalized yesterday, was ordered held on $250,000 cash, officials said.
“As we work with the St. Louis County Police, who will now assume responsibility over any protest-related incidents ... we are asking for peace,” Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III said in a statement. “We want to reassure our residents and businesses that the Ferguson Police Department will continue to answer calls from our citizens.”