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November 27, 2014

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National Guards keep the peace in Ferguson

Source: AP | November 27, 2014, Thursday | Print Edition

NATIONAL Guard state militia reinforcements helped contain the latest protests in Ferguson, preventing a second night of the chaos after a grand jury decided not to indict the white police officer who killed an unarmed black 18-year-old in a case that has highlighted simmering tensions between blacks and police.

Demonstrators returned on Tuesday to the riot-scarred streets of the St Louis suburb. But with hundreds of additional troops standing watch over neighborhoods and businesses, the protests had far less destructive power than the previous night.

However, officers still used some tear gas and pepper spray, and demonstrators set a squad car on fire and broke windows at City Hall.

The shooting also has given rise to a national protest movement, with thousands in US cities rallying behind the refrain “hands up, don’t shoot,” and drawing attention to other police killings.

As the tension in Ferguson eased somewhat, officer Darren Wilson broke his long public silence, insisting on national television that he could not have done anything differently in the confrontation with Michael Brown.

The decision announced on Monday night means Wilson faces no state criminal charges in the August 9 shooting in Ferguson, which reignited debates over relations between police and minority communities, even in cities far from Ferguson.

During an interview with ABC News, Wilson said he has a clean conscience because “I know I did my job right.”

Wilson, 28, had been with the Ferguson police force for less than three years before the August 9 shooting. He told ABC that Brown’s shooting was the first time he had fired his gun on the job.

Asked whether the encounter would have unfolded the same way if Brown had been white, Wilson said yes.

Wilson said in his grand jury testimony that he feared for his life during his confrontation with Brown, which he blamed on the big teenager, saying the theft suspect reached through his driver’s side window, hit him in the face, called him a “pussy” and tried grabbing his gun. Wilson then got off a shot that went through Brown’s hand, the only bullet that hit Brown at close range.

FBI agents shot

Wilson told ABC he felt like it was his duty to chase Brown after the confrontation at his police vehicle. When asked about witness accounts that Brown at one point turned toward Wilson and put his hands up, he responded “that would be incorrect.”

Brown fell to the ground about 46.6 meters from Wilson’s vehicle, fatally wounded by the last of the seven bullets that struck his body.

Meanwhile, two FBI agents were shot and wounded at a house in north St Louis County early yesterday, though the incident was “not directly related” to racially charged unrest in and around nearby Ferguson, an agency spokeswoman said.

One agent was shot in the shoulder and the other was shot in the leg while assisting local police in executing an arrest warrant, FBI spokeswoman Rebecca Wu said. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

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