Riots and nightly clashes between police and protesters have erupted in Ferguson, Missouri, forcing Gov. Jay Nixon to sign an executive order requesting additional assistance from Missouri National Guard servicemembers, according to a statement released by the governor's office. Protesters have shot at police officers, thrown Molotov cocktails, looted local businesses and coordinated efforts to block roads and overrun a police command center.
Growing tensions in Ferguson
USA Today reported that the city of Ferguson has been thrown into chaos since Aug. 9 after the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by police. Since then, standoffs between police and protesters have occurred on a nightly basis despite installed midnight curfews and the Brown family's request for calm, CNN reported. Spurred by the increasing violence, Gov. Nixon has called in the National Guard for assistance.
"Given these deliberate, coordinated and intensifying violent attacks on lives and property in Ferguson, I am directing the highly capable men and women of the Missouri National Guard to assist Col. Ron Replogle and the Unified Command in restoring peace and order to this community," a statement released by the governor's office said.
According to USA Today, protesting on Aug. 17 resulted in one person being shot and wounded and hundreds of people marching on a police command center. Local McDonald's employees were forced to lock themselves in a storage closet to evade protesters overrunning the restaurant.
"Police were shot at, makeshift barricades were set up to block police, bottles and rocks were thrown at police," Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol told USA Today.
Adding to the controversy, some protesters have denied any police provocation and have stated that citizens have peacefully marched in protest, making forceful police responses unwarranted, according to CNN. Hundreds of protesters – including children – marched on a police command center recently, resulting in officers firing tear gas into the crowd. However, reports of protesters firing guns at police or throwing Molotov cocktails have been denied by some protesters.
The shooting of Michael Brown
A recent autopsy of Brown revealed that the teenager was shot at least six times – twice in the head – from a distance, according to CNN. While police officers allege that Brown reached into the shooting officer's patrol car and tussled for the patrolman's gun, the autopsy suggested that Brown had not been in a struggle prior to the shooting.
Experts will inspect the autopsy results further in the coming days as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has approved another autopsy to be completed by a federal medical examiner.