Ferguson Demonstrations: Authorities Declare State of Emergency in St. Louis County

Posted 2015-08-11 12:17 by Grunt Report

St. Louis County authorities declared a state of emergency Monday and more than 100 people were arrested on the second day of protests marking a year since a police officer killed Ferguson, Missouri, teen Michael Brown.

The move was announced by County Executive Steve Stenger, who cited the violence that marred protests Sunday night in Ferguson.

“The recent acts of violence will not be tolerated in a community that has worked so tirelessly over the last year to rebuild and become stronger,” Stenger said in a statement.

The St. Louis County prosecuting attorney’s office announced criminal charges against a man authorities say exchanged gunfire with police officers Sunday night. Tyrone Harris, 18, who remained in critical condition, was charged with four counts of assault on law enforcement, five counts of armed criminal action and one count of shooting at a motor vehicle.

More than a dozen people were arrested Monday night after protesters blocked a traffic lane on West Florissant Avenue, The Associated Press reported.

It was the third location where arrests were made Monday, after about 60 people were taken into custody Monday afternoon when they blocked all 10 lanes of Interstate 70, which runs through Ferguson.

Cars on the interstate were backed up for more than a mile at the height of rush hour as authorities cleared demonstrators defiantly blocking traffic with barriers that read, “Ferguson is everywhere,” NBC station KSDK reported.

And earlier in the day, police arrested 57 non-violent protesters outside the federal courthouse in St. Louis following a noontime march through the city’s downtown.