FERGUSON,
Mo. — Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri on Saturday imposed a midnight to 5
a.m. curfew in this small city, declaring a state of emergency as
violence flared anew after a week of street protests over the killing of
an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer.
“This
is not to silence the people of Ferguson, but to address those who are
drowning out the voice of the people with their actions,” Mr. Nixon, a
Democrat, told reporters and residents at a Ferguson church. “We will
not allow a handful of looters to endanger the rest of this community.
If we’re going to achieve justice, we must first have and maintain
peace.”
Mr. Nixon added: “This is a test. The eyes of the world are watching.”
As
the curfew took effect, heavy rains began to fall and the streets,
which had been filled with people less than an hour before, were largely
deserted.
Capt.
Ronald S. Johnson, the state Highway Patrol commander whose officers
have overseen public security in Ferguson since Thursday, did not say
how long the curfew would be in force or whether violators would be
arrested.
The
announcement prompted cries of protest and anguish from some members of
the public who attended the news conference, with many of them arguing
that a curfew would lead only to new and fierce confrontations. Some
people begged to be able to go into the streets themselves to try to
calm any violence. But Captain Johnson said the curfew would be put in
place and enforced.
“We
won’t enforce it with trucks, we won’t enforce it with tear gas, we
will enforce it with communication,” Captain Johnson said. “We will be
telling people, ‘It’s time to go home.’ ”
Clusters
of protesters remained standing in a parking lot after midnight and
officers slowly walked down West Florissant Avenue, a hub for
demonstrators in recent days, in their direction. Other officers, in
riot gear, stood in a line in front of businesses that had previously
been looted. As the curfew took effect, police radio traffic crackled
with reports of demonstrators in other locations.
Mr.
Nixon announced his decision at the Greater St. Mark Family Church,
near the site of the unrest. The news conference quickly became
frenzied, with the governor and Captain Johnson confronting a volley of
aggressive questions, most of them from residents. It came a week after
the death of Michael Brown, 18, who was shot by Officer Darren Wilson.
The police said that Mr. Brown had been stopped for walking down the
middle of the street and that a scuffle had ensued, ending in gunfire;
other eyewitnesses have disputed that account.
At
times, Mr. Nixon and Captain Johnson both appeared chagrined by the
spectacle, the governor curtly telling one prospective questioner, “I’ll
let you yell at me next.”
Mr.
Nixon described the looting and violence as the work of an isolated
few, but emphasized that a curfew was necessary to restore order in a
community where residents have complained that basic services, like
summoning an ambulance through a 911 call, have been disrupted by the
protests.
“Small
groups took to the streets with the intent of committing crimes and
endangering citizens,” Mr. Nixon said after he praised “the courage and
resolve of peaceful protesters.”
The
curfew came under quick attack from some people in the church and from
protesters whom Captain Johnson credited with assisting the police in
maintaining order.
“Right
now, I want to make sure that my people don’t get hurt tonight,” said
Malik Z. Shabazz of Black Lawyers for Justice. He said his group would
bring a lawsuit challenging the treatment of Ferguson residents by the
police in the initial days of turmoil.
In Ferguson, Vigil for Michael Brown and Cleanup After More Looting
CreditEric Thayer for The New York Times
He
added: “It’s Saturday night. Midnight is an early time, and I have to
be able to go to my people with credibility in order for them to come
out of those streets. Twelve midnight is early. I cleared it Thursday at
1:30, no problem. But if I can get till 1:30, 2 tonight, it would all
go peacefully, no problem. Twelve midnight is a problem.”
Some
residents shouted at the governor, including one man who said, “We will
not get sleep until we get justice for Michael Brown!”
Another man shouted, “Sleep is not an option, Governor Nixon!”
Steven
W. Hawkins, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, said
in a statement: “It’s hard to build trust if the governor doesn’t meet
with community members and restricts their movements with a curfew.”
But
the announcement was greeted with relief from some elected officials,
who have struggled to hold off the faction of protesters who have
engaged in looting.
“I
don’t know what the answer is, but there has to be some type of
response because it’s only getting worse out there,” Patricia Bynes, a
black Democratic committeewoman for Ferguson Township, said on Saturday.
“People are fed up with police brutality and police harassment. There
is still so much racism and discrimination in this region, ingrained in
the business world and the communities. This is what happens when
institutional racism continues.”
The
shooting is being investigated by the Justice Department. Agents of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation have been flooding into Ferguson,
seeking witnesses. Locally, the case is being handled by the St. Louis
County prosecutor, Robert McCulloch, but there have been calls to have
the case shifted to a special prosecutor, in part because of criticism
that Mr. McCulloch has not been rigorous in prosecuting law enforcement
officers in high-profile cases.
Since last Sunday, Ferguson has seesawed between extremes: order and unrest, protests and looting.
It
has seen peaceful demonstrations by day and often ugly clashes at night
between highly militarized police officers and angry protesters calling
for justice for Mr. Brown. On Thursday, President Obama urged an end to
the violence and the governor ordered the state Highway Patrol to take
over security from local law enforcement.
Timeline: The Shooting of a Missouri Teenager
Residents
have taken to the streets each day, holding placards condemning what
they say is a long history of harassment and abuse of African-Americans
at the hands of the largely white Ferguson police force. Groups of
people have silently confronted police officers, facing them with their
hands in the air, as witnesses said Mr. Brown did before he was shot.
And
late at night, a small number of unruly people in the crowd have turned
violent, smashing shop windows and stealing hair supplies and liquor.
For several days, television networks have replayed clips of people
looting, burning down a convenience store and throwing glass bottles and
gasoline bombs at heavily armed police officers, drawing comparisons to
scenes from a war-ravaged city.
Earlier,
Chief Jon Belmar of the St. Louis County Police had dismissed the idea
of a curfew, saying that such an action would not hinder people
determined to cause violence, while negatively affecting residents
engaging in innocent activity, like walking home from the bus stop after
a late shift of work.
But
Mr. Nixon, increasingly desperate to bring the situation in Ferguson
under control, said he embraced the tactic reluctantly.
Earlier
Saturday, in a new sign of discord among the authorities over the
handling of the investigation into Mr. Brown’s death, the Justice
Department said that it had opposed the release of a video that the
Ferguson Police Department said showed the teenager apparently involved
in a robbery at a convenience store.
The
Justice Department asked the Ferguson Police Department not to release
the video because of concerns that “it would roil the community
further,” a United States law enforcement official said on Saturday. The
Ferguson department released the video on Friday and the Justice
official said it “occurred over the objection of federal authorities.”
The official said a copy of the video had been in possession of federal
investigators, as well, “and there were never any plans by the federal
investigators to release that copy.”
The
dispute showed further divisions among the authorities in the handling
of the case. The surveillance video appeared to show Mr. Brown stealing a
box of cigarillos. Shortly after the release of the video, Captain
Johnson expressed his displeasure, saying he had not been told that the
police planned to release it.
Mr.
Brown’s family and many protesters accused the police of trying to harm
the teenager’s reputation and to divert attention from the officer who
killed him. The police have said that Officer Wilson was not aware of
what had happened at the convenience store when he encountered Mr.
Brown. The police identified the officer for the first time on Friday;
he has been put on administrative leave and his whereabouts were
unknown. Neighbors on his block in Crestwood, a suburb of St. Louis,
said that he left his home several days ago and has not been seen since.
On Saturday, the house appeared deserted, the blinds in the windows
closed tightly.
On
Friday night, hundreds of protesters returned to the streets in anger
over the shooting and the handling of the investigation. The
confrontation between the police and demonstrators, the first serious
one since the Highway Patrol assumed responsibility for security
operations, ended at about 4 a.m. when the authorities, prompted by the
gradual dispersal of demonstrators, pulled back to their nearby command
post. The Associated Press reported that one law enforcement official
had been injured overnight.
Ferguson
continued to draw African-American leaders, who appeared at protests
and held prayer vigils. On Saturday, dozens of clergy members, including
the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and hundreds of people, including residents
from Ferguson, greater St. Louis and beyond, gathered on Canfield Drive,
the street where Mr. Brown was killed, in front of two makeshift
memorials decorated with candles, stuffed animals and flowers.
“We choose futures over funerals,” Mr. Jackson said.
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