Teenage boy killing: Protesters defy curfew

by Agency Reporter

Police in Ferguson, Missouri, said they fired smoke and tear gas early Sunday to disperse protesters, angry at the shooting of a black teenager by a white police officer, after they defied a midnight curfew announced the day before, France24 reports.

“You must disperse immediately,” a law enforcement official warned over a loudspeaker as police slowly moved down the street where dozens of demonstrators remained after the curfew took effect. Officers were equipped with gas masks and full-length shields, standing among armored vehicles.

A short time later, officers began firing canisters toward the crowd. Highway Patrol Spokesman, Lt. John Hotz, initially said police only used smoke, but later told The Associated Press that they also fired tear gas canisters. He said of police efforts: “Obviously, we’re trying to give them every opportunity to comply with the curfew.”

On Saturday Missouri Governor, Jay Nixon, declared a state of emergency and announced a curfew to go into effect between midnight and 5am local time (0500 to 1000 GMT).

It followed a week of racially charged protests and looting over the August 9 fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, 28, in the suburban St Louis community.

In announcing the curfew, Nixon said that though many protesters were making themselves heard peacefully, the state would not allow looters to endanger the community.

“We must first have and maintain peace. This is a test. The eyes of the world are watching,” Nixon said. “We cannot allow the ill will of the few to undermine the good will of the many.”

Though hundreds of other protesters left peacefully before the curfew, about 150 people remained in the streets, police said.

Some protesters still in the street, under a downpour of rain, were chanting, “No justice, no curfew, no peace”, while others implored the crowd not to move forward towards police.

Witnesses at the scene said they heard gunshots during the confrontation between police and demonstrators after the curfew began, but it could not immediately be confirmed whether any shots were fired.

CNN showed video of some protesters being loaded into vehicles, but a Highway Patrol spokesman said he could not confirm any arrests.

Earlier on Saturday evening the mood among the protesters on a main road in Ferguson was tense and defiant.