Ferguson - 8 Days and Counting

Missouri - making a name for ourselves.

I'm going to guess that Governor Nixon's chances of re-election are slim to none.

He has also called out the National Guard at 7:00 am this morning.  And the Ferguson-Florissant School District has closed schools today.

Also on Sunday, a preliminary private autopsy found that Brown was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, according to the New York Times.

  alJazeera

By that "gentleman" and model police officer, you mean?  (I also read an account  - which I cannot now find - of a female eye-witness who watched from her apartment window and did not want to be named - that Brown was still with his hands up when the police officer shot him in the head.  Another pair of eyewitnesses say Brown at first ran, then when the officer fired at him, he turned and put his hands up, but the officer kept shooting.  Also, Mother Jones via Rolling Stone has what appears to be a live tweet account from an eye witness as the killing happened.)

Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City chief medical examiner, told The New York Times that one of the bullets entered the top of Brown's skull, suggesting that his head was bent forward when he suffered a fatal injury.

  alJazeera

Or on his knees?  Or already dead on the ground?

"He suffered a fatal injury."  Why choose that way to say, "when the officer shot him"?

An Amnesty spokesman on Democracy Now! says that they are monitoring the situation due to the possibility of indiscriminate deployment of tear gas where women, children and elderly are gathered.  (Video report)  (And this I did not know:  Dred Scott is buried in Florissant.)

He also says the curfew is against international standards, disproportionate to the situation, and escalates the situation.

This evening’s rioting in Ferguson was a “preplanned agitation” rather than simply civil disobedience, Missouri State Police told journalists.

Demonstrators had Molotov cocktails with them. Police had to act to protect lives and property as the firebombs were thrown, a spokesman said.

  RT

Whatever happened to the calm that the Highway Patrol brought to the place?

"Based on the conditions, I had no alternative but to elevate the level of response," said Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol, who is command in Ferguson.

[...]

Johnson said earlier Saturday that police would not enforce the curfew with tear gas and armored trucks but would communicate with protesters and give them ample opportunity to leave.   alJazeera

I was expecting that: You had your chance, Johnson.  In a video (around the 20:00 mark), Johnson is clearly reading from a script, rather than addressing the press directly in his own words.

As tensions continue to mount in Ferguson, police officers were captured on video threatening to shoot one journalist and mace another. Other reporters allege they were arrested while covering the protests.

  RT

Police used tear gas against protesters in Ferguson more than two hours before the extended curfew was set to begin.

[...]

Protesters were marching to a local mall, acting as a temporary police base, when police shot tear gas at them, after just one notice to disperse, Paulina Leonovich field producer for RT's Ruptly agency says.

[...]

n order to “ensure public safety,” police drove into the protest area in armored vehicles shooting smoke canisters. The tear gas shot by police also reportedly hit the media standing area.

[...]

However, the Missouri Highway Patrol said it was using the smoke canisters to disperse "aggressors" who were trying to infiltrate a law enforcement command post, Reuters reports.

[...]

Hundreds of protesters fled to safety after authorities fired smoke canisters and tear gas, and turned on Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs).

[...]

Early on Monday morning, the governor has signed an executive order directing “highly capable men and women” of the Missouri National Guard “to assist Colonel Ron Replogle and the Unified Command in restoring peace and order to” Ferguson, his office said in a statement.

Nixon condemned crimes in the community, “that included firing upon law enforcement officers, shooting a civilian, throwing Molotov cocktails, looting, and a coordinated attempt to block roads and overrun the Unified Command Center.”

Missouri Highway Patrol spokesman Justin Wheetley elaborated further, saying that officials will decide on whether to cancel the curfew on a day-by-day basis.

During the previous night, some of the most hardline protesters remained on the streets after the curfew, annoyed by what they say are the authorities’ efforts to quell the protest by imposing more restrictions on residents instead of addressing the issue.

Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, and arrested seven people for disobedience.

  RT

Attorney General Eric Holder will brief President Obama Monday on possible actions the federal government can take in Ferguson, Mo.

  The Hill