At first, it seemed like protestors might disperse peacefully and go home before the midnight curfew, imposed by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, came into effect in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson Saturday night. They didn’t.
“The curfew is going to make things worse,” protester Phones Scott, 24, told Reuters Saturday evening. “I think the cops are going to get violent tonight, but they can’t lock us all up.”
Police arrested seven people and deployed tear gas to disperse crowds, but it seemed to be the protestors who got violent: The Associated Press reported that one person was shot in a restaurant under unclear circumstances (but police said they were not involved in the shooting), and in another case someone fired on a police car, though no cops were reported injured.
From the AP:
Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson said during a news conference that police are still seeking the person who shot the critically wounded victim and defended his department’s strong strategic response that came after a midnight to 5 a.m. curfew took hold in Ferguson, Missouri. Johnson said the strong police response was precipitated by two events.
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