The already tense situation in Ferguson has raised further concern with the presence of an armed militia group, the members of which overtly carry rifles and pistols and are patrolling West Florissant Avenue, the center of several days of protests in the St. Louis suburb. Not only are African-American men more likely to be stopped and arrested by police for minor infractions such as loitering or traffic violations, they also are more likely to be charged by prosecutors and to receive more severe sentences than whites convicted of similar crimes. Police say the short clip from the security camera show Harris, 18, pulling a gun from his waistband, reports BBC. “It is because of their ability to maintain order that I find it prudent to continue the state of emergency for at least the next 24 hours”.
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“Overall”, he noted, “the attitude seemed a little tougher than during the November protests, where it was a large diverse group and the majority actually wanted to protest peacefully – but a minority grabbed all the attention with looting, starting fires, et cetera”.
Ferguson county in St. Louis began a state of emergency on Monday following protests that turned violent overnight. There’s also been a growing recognition that the mass arrest and incarceration strategies of the past have only exacerbated tensions between police and minority communities. “People who were just anonymous young 20-somethings [last year]”, he adds, “a year later they’re regular activists doing work for structural change”.
There were prayers, chanting and demands that the Justice Department take stronger action against the officers who were involved what is being described as a racial shooting. His father, however, said his son was unarmed and innocent, according to U.S. media.
Louis County spent $2.5 million in overtime pay for cops in 2014 tied to the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., after the shooting death of Michael Brown, the St. Louis Business Journal reported.
“If Ferguson had been something started by the NAACP or the Urban League … if it happened that way, I don’t think we would’ve gotten the same response” around the country, he says.
Two other persons were shot on Sunday.
Several Oath Keepers were seen to be freely interacting with the police late Monday and early Tuesday. He continued firing as he then ran toward a fenced area, but was shot multiple times by police, Belmar said.
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Wilson retired from the Ferguson Police Department.
