Posted on August 14, 2014

Ferguson Police Department Implores Protesters to Gather Only During Daylight

CBS St. Louis, August 13, 2014

The police department in a St. Louis suburb where a man was shot and killed by a police officer is asking protesters to gather only during daylight.

Ferguson has been the site of nightly protests and unrest since 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed during a confrontation with an officer on Saturday.

In a news release issued Wednesday, the department asked that all people who assemble to pray or protest do so in “an organized and respectful” manner and disperse well before evening to ensure the safety of participants and the community.

“The City of Ferguson mourns the loss of Michael Brown’s life that occurred of Michael Brown’s life that occurred this past Saturday,” the statement read. “We understand members of our community, and those nationwide, are grieving with us. We have worked diligently to provide an opportunity for our residents to both grieve and voice frustrations through prayer vigils and peaceful protests.”

The statement continued: “We are working to restore confidence in the safety of our community and our neighborhoods so that we may begin the healing process.”

The release blames the previous violence on people who transformed peaceful protests into violent demonstrations, which police say is not indicative of the city or its residents.

Hundreds of residents packed two churches Tuesday evening for community meetings about the death of Brown, who was confronted by a Ferguson officer while walking with a friend in the street near his grandmother’s home.

People also gathered in the streets Tuesday night, shouting at police. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that police again fired tear gas into a crowd. One person was injured in a drive-by shooting, although it was not clear if the shooting was related to the protests. The Post-Dispatch also reported that a St. Louis County police officer shot and critically wounded a man who authorities said pulled a handgun on the officer.

The fatal shooting of Brown has exposed deep racial and economic fault lines in the community. At one church gathering with dozens of clergy members and elected officials, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon urged calm “in the face of crisis.”

“We stand together tonight, reeling from what feels like an old wound torn open afresh,” Nixon said. “A wound that hadn’t quite healed right in the first place, and now the pain is just as searing as when the injury first occurred.”

The other church rally featured the Rev. Al Sharpton, who earlier in the day pressed police to release the name of the police officer involved–but also pleaded for calm after a night of looting and vandalism and instances of police using tear gas.

“The local authorities have put themselves in a position–hiding names and not being transparent–where people will not trust anything but an objective investigation,” Sharpton said at a news conference with Brown’s parents.

Ferguson police initially planned to release the name of the officer, who is on administrative leave, on Tuesday. But they said death threats to its officers prompted them to withhold it. Computer hackers have also targeted the city’s website and released details online about individual city employees.

“If we come out and say, ‘It was this officer,’ then he immediately becomes a target,” Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said. “We’re taking the threats seriously.”

Police have not disclosed the race of the officer, but witnesses said he was white. The Ferguson police force has 53 officers, three of whom are black. Jackson said the city has had trouble recruiting and retaining black officers.

Investigators have released few details about the deadly encounter, saying only that a scuffle unfolded after the officer on a routine patrol asked Brown and another teen to get out of the street on Saturday afternoon. At some point, the officer’s weapon fired inside a patrol car, according to the St. Louis County Police Department, which is handling the investigation at the smaller city’s request.

Several hundred protesters rallied Tuesday morning in the county seat of Clayton, urging St. Louis County’s prosecutor to file criminal charges against the Ferguson officer.

Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr., said at the news conference to “come together and do this right . . . no violence.” President Barack Obama also urged calm, saying people must comfort each other “in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.”

Ferguson’s mayor and police chief were among the speakers at the meeting Nixon attended. Both were welcomed with polite applause.

The forum was intended as an alternative response after two nights of unrest in which crowds had burned stores, vandalized vehicles, assaulted reporters and taunted officers. Organizers shared plans for numerous nonviolent responses, such as a prayer walk planned to mark the one-week anniversary of Brown’s death and assembling teams of greeters to welcome back students at the high school from which Brown recently graduated.

The fullest account of Brown’s death so far has come from Dorian Johnson, who said he was walking home with Brown when they were approached by an officer in a squad car who ordered them to move to the sidewalk. Johnson told news crews that he and Brown kept walking and the officer then reversed his car “to where it almost hit us.”

The officer, Johnson said, tried to open his door, but it “ricocheted” back. Johnson said the officer reached through the window, “grabbed my friend around the neck” and tried to pull him into the car. The officer then reportedly pulled out his weapon and said, “‘I’ll shoot you,’ or ‘I’m going to shoot,’” Johnson said.

When the officer opened fire, Brown was hit, said Johnson, who hid behind a car. Brown kept running, Johnson said. Johnson said the officer pursued Brown and fired again. When Brown felt that shot, he turned around and put his hands in the air and started to get down on the ground. The officer kept firing, Johnson said.

Police have said there is no security or police video of the confrontation.