As we reported last night [6], when the Ferguson curfew hitting at midnight, while most of the protesters dispersed, many still remained on the streets despite a clear warning by the police department that anyone still rioting/looting/protesting would be arrested. Which is when things went from bad to worse for yet another night. In roughly chronological order:
Demonstrators have made a barricade of cars across West Florissant. pic.twitter.com/6YQa11adtW [7]
— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) August 17, 2014 [8]
Tear Gas deployed. Smoke filling the road in front of protesters. #stl [9] #ferguson [10] #MikeBrown [11]
— FOX2now (@FOX2now) August 17, 2014 [12]
Police vehicles, armored cars are on the move. They're marching toward the crowd. #stl [9] #Ferguson [13] pic.twitter.com/QpWeC1MjSw [14]
— FOX2now (@FOX2now) August 17, 2014 [15]
“There was no convincing them”: Police use tear gas on curfew breakers http://t.co/P89OOG65HG [16]
— FOX2now (@FOX2now) August 17, 2014 [17]
This canister makes it seem like smoke after all. #Fergurson [18] pic.twitter.com/jxWdlnG2rq [19]
— William H. Powell (@WPowell19) August 17, 2014 [20]
Too many young men talking about they're ready to die tonight. #Ferguson [13]
— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) August 17, 2014 [21]
And then this happened:
Gun shots.
— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) August 17, 2014 [22]
@ChrisHayesTV [23] reports: A witness says someone was shot at the corner of Canfield and West #Florissant [24] #stl [9]
— FOX2now (@FOX2now) August 17, 2014 [25]
Mo HP Capt Johnson: Shooting victim tonight in critical condition. Police car was shot at tonight.
— FOX2now (@FOX2now) August 17, 2014 [26]
According to Reuters [27], Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson said the person shot at a restaurant was in critical condition. Police were unable to identify the victim, who he said was not shot by police, and that the alleged shooter was still at large. Well, what else would he say: that the cops shot yet another Fergusonite?
As we warned yesterday [28], all that is needed for the racial divide in this country to reach levels (of violence) not seen in generations, is for one or more people to die, whether in Ferguson or elsewhere, while protesting along racial lines. We can only hope that the person in critical condition makes a recovery or else this may well be just the beginning of what we have warned for years will happen when a record wealth/class/religious/ethnic divide, largely aided and abetted by the administration, finally spills out on the streets and the people demand a reversion to the mean: something which for those who follow history happens with clockwork regularity when the divide between the haves and the have nots reaches record levels.
So to summarize last night's events, here is KTVI [29]with a first person account of the latest nightly rioting in Ferguson:
More tear gas and gun-fire in the streets during another violent night in Ferguson and leaving many to wonder when will it end.
One person shot, a police car hit by gun-fire, and seven arrests as police enforced the governor’s new curfew. Police fired smoke bombs and tear gas at protesters who didn’t want to leave after the midnight curfew rolled around. Police got reports of people on the roof at Red’s Barbecue. Then they saw a man in the street with a gun and they found a man shot in the neck, critically hurt. That is when the SWAT Team came in.
Police tried to move back the crowd with smoke bombs and tear gas to try to get to the shooting victim. By the time police got to the scene near Red’s the victim was already gone. He was taken to the hospital in a private car.
Authorities arrested seven people for failing to disperse the area around. At around 1am it appeared that police had removed all of the protesters.
Captain Ron Johnson talks about dealing with the protesters at curfew time. “There was a shooting victim near QuikTrip and Red’s Barbeque. As we approached Red’s Barbecue we deployed tear gas. The first can of gas that was deployed was there. In an effort to get back and get to the shooting victim. Also, a police car at that location was shot at.”
We don’t have any details on whether that police car was hit. But, we don’t believe that anyone was injured.
We did get video overnight of police processing the car used to take the shooting victim to the hospital. County police tell FOX 2 that the shooting victim is in critical condition. The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still unclear.
It is rumored, although unlikely, that a city devolving into a state of emergency and actual curfew, will be enough for the president to take a break from his golf game and make a teleprompted statement later today.
