Ferguson: Burned Buildings, 61 Arrests In Wake Of Grand Jury Decision

Ferguson: Burned Buildings, 61 Arrests In Wake Of Grand Jury Decision

By James Queally, Cathleen Decker, Lauren Raab and Matt Pearce, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

FERGUSON, Mo. — At least a dozen buildings were burned and 61 people arrested during a night of violence and chaos in Ferguson, Mo., that followed a grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer in the killing of an unarmed black man, police said early Tuesday.

St. Louis County Police Department officials said those arrested could face charges of arson, burglary, possession of stolen property, unlawful possession of a firearm, and unlawful assembly. Only nine of those taken into custody were from Ferguson, authorities said.

During an early morning news conference held while flames still rose from some cars and buildings in Ferguson, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said Monday night’s unrest exceeded what happened in the days after Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown on Aug. 9.

Belmar told a news briefing that he heard about 150 gunshots during the night.
“I’m disappointed in this evening. … I didn’t see a lot of peaceful protests out there tonight,” he said.

Police were pelted with rocks and batteries as soon as the St. Louis County grand jury’s decision was announced, he said. Two police cars were set afire and “melted” on West Florissant Avenue, the scene of many protests, and at least a dozen buildings were torched, he said.

As day began to break, police still had no accurate count of the damage or the losses.

“What I’ve seen tonight is probably much worse than the worst night we had in August,” Belmar said. “There’s not a lot left” on a section of West Florissant ravaged by arson and looting.

But there was no loss of life, he said, and no serious injuries among police or protesters have been reported. “The good news is that we have not fired a shot,” Belmar said of law enforcement.

Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson lauded law enforcement’s restraint. “The officers did a great job tonight,” he told reporters. “They showed great character.”

Like Belmar, Johnson said the night’s violence dismayed him: “Our community has got to take some responsibility for what happened tonight. … We talk about peaceful protests, and that did not happen tonight.”

Belmar confirmed that an officer in University City, another St. Louis suburb, had been wounded by gunfire Monday night, but he said that “as far as I know, that is totally unrelated to events here in Ferguson.”

St. Louis County police said the officer was hit in the arm and would be OK.

Belmar said he looked forward to getting more National Guard troops in the community, as Gov. Jay Nixon ordered earlier in the evening, but he defended police preparedness.

“I don’t think we were underprepared,” he said, adding, “I don’t think we can prevent folks who are really intent on destroying a community.”

“I didn’t foresee an evening like this,” he said. “I’ll be honest with you.”

(Queally reported from Ferguson, Pearce from St. Louis and Decker and Raab from Los Angeles. Staff writer Connie Stewart contributed to this report.)

TNS Photo/Armando Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

Advertising

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

Narcissist Trump Disdained The Wounded And Admired The War Criminal

Former President Donald Trump, Gen. Mark Milley and former Vice President Mike Pence

We’ve long known who Donald Trump is: narcissistic, impressed with authoritarian displays, contemptuous of anyone he sees as low status, a man for whom the highest principle is his own self-interest. It’s still shocking to read new accounts of the moments where he’s most willing to come out and show all that, to not even pretend to be anything but what he is—and holy crap, does The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg have the goods in his new profile of outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Mark Milley, which focuses on Milley’s efforts to protect the military as a nonpartisan institution under Trump.

Keep reading...Show less
Ben Wikler

Ben Wikler

White House

From Alabama Republicans' blatantly discriminatory congressional map, to the Wisconsin GOP's ousting of a the states' top election official and attempt to impeach a liberal Supreme Court justice, to North Carolina's decision to allow the majority-Republican legislature to appoint state and local election board members, News from the States reports these anti-democratic moves have all recently "generated national headlines" and stoked fears ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}