According to tweets from reporter Wesley Lowery, Nation of Islam members were trying to diffuse the situation, getting te crowd to back up, with a cityblock between them and the police. Someone broke out a window of a store, but Black Panthers and Nation of Islam lined up in front to prevent from looting there. Another store was broken into and looted. Lowery says many looters are "drunk kids". An attempt on the convenience store that Michael Brown was seen (and his partner admitted to) stealing from the day he was shot was being protected by community members, as well as McDonald's. Sam's Meat Market was being looted, and then guarded. He does not say by whom.
He says a "punk white kid" chased off a cameraman and threatened Lowery with a rock. Two white males, "with covered faces" along with a black "kid" were threatening reporters. Police reportedly fired tear gas,but Lowery did not see any police advancing on the protesters.
Lowery retweets a post from Joel D. Anderson:
It could be a very long weekend.
Just before midnight, some in what had been a large and rowdy but mostly well-behaved crowd broke into that same small store and began looting it, said Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson.
Some in the crowd began throwing rocks and other objects at police, Johnson said. One officer was hurt but details on the injury were not immediately available.
Johnson said police backed off to try and ease the tension. He believes looting may have spread to a couple of nearby stores. No arrests were made.
"We had to evaluate the security of the officers there and also the rioters," Johnson said. "We just felt it was better to move back."
Meanwhile, peaceful protesters yelled at the aggressors to stop what they were doing. About a dozen people eventually blocked off the front of the convenience store to help protect it.
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Johnson said one tear gas canister was deployed Friday night after the group of rioters became unruly.
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St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch said it could be weeks before the investigation of the shooting wraps up.
St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley on Friday asked Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to take over the case, saying he did not believe McCulloch could be objective. Koster said Missouri law does not allow it unless McCulloch opts out. McCulloch spokesman Ed Magee said McCulloch has no plans to surrender the case.
Also Friday, the Justice Department confirmed in a statement that FBI agents had conducted several interviews with witnesses as part of a civil-rights investigation into Brown's death. In the days ahead, the agents planned to canvass the neighborhood where the shooting happened, seeking more information, the statement said.
Fox News
It could be a long month, and depending upon the outcome of the shooting investigation...
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