Police Fire Rubber Bullets and Tear Gas on Ferguson, Mo. Protestors
Tensions in Ferguson, Missouri were cloaked in a cloud of tear gas Monday night as police and protestors continued their stand off over the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager who was shot multiple times and killed Saturday by a police officer.
Between 200 and 300 police officers came out in full force Monday, armed with tear gas, dogs and tanks to combat the protestors, who were joined this morning by the hacker-activist group, Anonymous.
"I'm down here at the protest and they start throwing tear gas and shooting rubber bullets at all the protestors, telling us to go home, and we live here. They need to go home. We live here. We're looking for justice. Where's the justice for this boy's death?" a protestor named Samantha Broomfield told the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch.
People on the scene—including the New York Times' Julie Bosman—confirmed that police appeared to be indiscriminately firing rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd.
Police shooting rubber bullets at crowd, including reporters and photographers. #Ferguson
— Julie Bosman (@juliebosman) August 12, 2014
At least 5 gunshots heard from #Ferguson neighborhood. People trapped here scatter and take cover. "Where are we supposed to hide?" one says
— Julie Bosman (@juliebosman) August 12, 2014
Tear gas Right now in #Ferguson https://t.co/ZeNa4xxYY7
— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) August 12, 2014
Earlier in the day, the protestors—many of them young black men with their hands raised in mock surrender—chanted "Don't shoot," at the police officers.
Men armed with nothing but phones ordered to get on their knees. I witnessed tear gas thrown at them in #ferguson pic.twitter.com/DNOK0yRt93
— Liz Peinado (@LizPeinadoSTL) August 12, 2014
Group of roughly one dozen men approached police with hands raised. Lots more tear gas. #Ferguson
— Julie Bosman (@juliebosman) August 12, 2014
Right now in #Ferguson https://t.co/9FleEWiKmY
— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) August 12, 2014
The FBI took over the investigation into Brown's death this morning, and the publicly available details surrounding Brown's death remain unclear.
Witnesses say Brown had his hands up when he was shot, while the official police statement claims Brown was "physically assaulting" the officer. All parties agree he was unarmed and shot multiple times by an as-yet unidentified police officer.
On Monday afternoon, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson told CNN that he will release the officer's name at some point on Tuesday.