FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — St. Louis County Police are confirming officers used tear gas to disperse crowds in Ferguson after a police car was vandalized, business windows shattered and gunshots were heard in the streets.
Some protesters erupted in anger after the announcement that Officer Darren Wilson won’t be indicted in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Protesters overran a barricade and taunted police. Some chanted “murderer” and others threw rocks and bottles.
The windows of a police car were smashed and protesters tried to topple it before it was set ablaze. Officers responded by firing what authorities said was smoke and pepper spray into the crowd. St. Louis County Police later confirmed tear gas also was used.
Some in the crowd tried to stop others from taking part in the violence.
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“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
Abraham Lincoln
There’s just no need to further destroy the community that has been torn apart already. I just don’t get it.
If one were to deliberately set the stage for tonight’s violence in Ferguson, one could not have done a better job than the Ferguson prosecutor’s office, the Ferguson and St Louis area police agencies, the Governor of Missouri, and the national media. Today’s (and in days previous) a frenzied series of news conferences, “breaking news” teasers, premature declarations of “states of emergency,” and more have inexorably led to tonight’s catastrophe in Ferguson and to a quantum step back in any efforts to address the continued challenge of racial discord that plagues this nation.
I’m going to find a still from an MSNBC video of one of the people who looked like they were agitating the crowd to attack a police car. It was during a live feed from Ferguson during the Maddow program. It might have been the very first police car attacked – rocked back and forth and then kicked and pummeled with bottles and rocks. There is a man with a hat and scarf covering most of his face but you can see enough of what he looks like. Tall, white, blond hair in a buzzcut. His hat has a white band across the front that is distinct. I watched him yell and act the most violent and then disappear into the crowd when the police showed up. All I could think is, “Hmm, he seems to be riling up the crowd and that white band on his hat makes him stand out more. Why would an agitator want to stand out unless he would want the police to quickly identify him – like if he was a cop.”
Really, really not helping. Just giving the racist Fox crowd more ammo and confirming their biases that black culture is inherently violent.