No Script

Please Wait...

Al-Ahed Telegram

Officer Shot, Riot Escalates after US Jury Fails to Indict Ferguson Policeman

Officer Shot, Riot Escalates after US Jury Fails to Indict Ferguson Policeman
folder_openUnited States access_time9 years ago
starAdd to favorites

Local Editor

A policeman was shot and wounded on Monday evening in University City, a St. Louis suburb near Ferguson, Missouri, though it was unclear if the shooting was related to street protests over the grand jury's decision in the Michael Brown case, police said.

Officer Shot, Riot Escalates after US Jury Fails to Indict Ferguson PolicemanThe officer was shot in the arm, and he is expected to recover, but the circumstances of the shooting were not immediately available, and a search for the suspect was under way, the St. Louis County Police Department said in a message on Twitter.


This comes as violent protests and looting erupted in the US town of Ferguson on Monday after a grand jury chose not to press charges against a white officer who shot dead a black teen.

President Barack Obama and the family of late 18-year-old Michael Brown separately appealed for calm after a prosecutor said a grand jury had found the policeman acted in self-defense.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch said Officer Darren Wilson had fired 12 times after get
ting into an "altercation" with Brown, and that the jury had found no grounds to file charges.

As McCulloch rounded off his summary of the grand jury testimony, Brown's mother burst into tears and the crowd began to chant: "Hey, hey, ho, ho! These killer cops have got to go."
Members of an angry crowd outside the police station where Wilson had been based threw bottles and stones. A police car was set alight and stores looted.
Riot officers responded with teargas and flash grenades, and running battles broke out in the streets of the St Louis suburb.

The protesters smashed their way into a mobile phone store opposite the police headquarters and ransacked it. Nearby, an Agence France Presse journalist was hurt when he was hit in the face by a hurled object.

Pam Bailey, a retiree from St Louis in her 60s, said she had expected the decision. "I've lived long enough to know that African Americans are not considered human beings," she said.
Protest marches began in several more US cities, but there were no immediate reports of unrest outside Missouri.

Outside the White House, a crowd waved signs urging the government to "Stop racist police terror."
In Washington, Obama made a rapidly-organized televised appearance to appeal for calm in the Midwestern town, echoing the sentiments of the dead teenager's family.
"Michael Brown's parents have lost more than anyone. We should be honoring their wishes," Obama said.
"I also appeal to the law enforcement officials in Ferguson and the region to show care and restraint in managing peaceful protests that may occur."

His call for calm fell on deaf ears in Ferguson, where police were pelted with bricks and bottles and responded with volleys of teargas.
"It shows that our justice system is corrupt," said a 21-year-old sales representative from Ferguson who gave his name as Josh.

"It shows that we have a long way to go and it shows today that justice hasn't been served for years and years. There's room for peaceful protests and there's room for violent protests."

McCulloch told reporters the evidence presented to the jury had shown Wilson had shot as a legitimate act of self-defense during a tussle that broke out as he was responding to a robbery.

He said the "altercation" had broken out as Wilson was sitting in his patrol car and Brown was standing at the window.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

Comments