Protests Nationwide as More Troops Are Called to Ferguson

Journalists with The New York Times in Ferguson, Mo., have been following a grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. More arrests were made overnight as protests also spread around the country. In an effort to quell violence in Ferguson, Missouri officials deployed additional National Guard troops.

Law enforcement officials reacted swiftly to protesters on the streets in St. Louis overnight and the Missouri National Guard beefed up its presence here as a calmer mood prevailed compared to Monday night. But but the situation remained tense and uncertain as people there and around the country expressed anger and frustration.

The burning car belonged to Marcus DiPaola, a reporter for Xinhua News Agency who said he abandoned the vehicle after being assaulted while doing a stand-up shot near the memorial to Michael Brown.

Mr. DiPaola said he and a reporting crew were recording a report around 7:30 Tuesday night when 15 to 20 people, some of them armed, rushed them and demanded they stop filming. He said members of the group smashed the windows of his car, a Toyota Prius, took the key and pointed a gun at the head of his videographer. None of the journalists was hurt, Mr. DiPaola said, and they left on foot until a church van delivering Thanksgiving turkeys stopped to give them a ride.

— JACK HEALY

6:38 A.M. Groups Hope to Help Ferguson Heal

The Association of Black Psychologists and the Community Healing Network have announced plans for a series of workshops and training sessions intended to help African-Americans in Ferguson.

“The aim is to help people heal from the trauma caused by the killing of Michael Brown, the mistreatment of the community in its struggle for justice, and the historical trauma caused by the lie of black inferiority — the root cause of the devaluing of the lives of black people,” the groups said in a statement.

“We are excited about starting a community conversation about overturning the myth of dehumanization — the toxic idea that black people are less than human,” Dr. Marva Robinson, president of the St. Louis chapter of the Association of Black Psychologists, said in the statement. “The demonstrations in Ferguson have been calls for justice for Michael Brown, yes, but they are also calls for black people to be treated as human beings.”

The workshops and training sessions will be at Harris-Stowe State University in early December.

“We can debate. We can legislate. We can litigate,” the Community Healing Network said on its website. “But until we overturn this poisonous lie that dehumanizes black people, our children will continue to walk the streets in fear.”

— THE NEW YORK TIMES

6:36 A.M. Blocking Freeways on West Coast

Protesters in California flooded the U.S. 101 freeway Tuesday night, carrying barricades that they laid across lanes and bringing traffic to a halt, The Associated Press reported.
Within a few minutes Highway Patrol and Los Angeles officers chased the few dozen protesters off the freeway and corralled them on an overpass, where one of the barricades was thrown on to the freeway below. There were no immediate reports of any arrests.

The protesters had broken away from a larger, primarily peaceful group of hundreds who had marched for miles through city streets since mid-afternoon, converging on police headquarters.
In Oakland, a group of protesters vandalized police cars and businesses in the downtown, The A.P. reported, smashing windows at car dealerships, restaurants, and convenience stores on a second night of protests.

The crowd briefly shut down two major freeways, and set several trash bins on fire across a major street before police in riot helmets forced them to disperse.

6:24 A.M. Generally, ‘a Much Better Night,’ Police Official Says

FERGUSON, Mo. – Chief Jon M. Belmar of the St. Louis County Police Department told reporters early Wednesday morning that “I think generally, it was a much better night.”

Police arrested 45 people late Tuesday and early Wednesday in a second night of demonstrations that were smaller and not as violent as they had been on Monday.

Tense and often chaotic moments remained throughout the evening, as demonstrators gathered on some of the same streets where violence unfolded a day earlier.

The Ferguson City Hall and the street in front came under attack: Protesters tipped over a police vehicle parked outside the building and tried to set it on fire, and they broke the windows of City Hall. Police officers in armored military-style vehicles raced to the scene and fired tear gas and smoke canisters, filling the air again with the pungent odor of chemicals. A firebomb, a mason jar filled with a flammable liquid and topped with a cotton cloth as a wick, was found outside City Hall. Later, a group of young men shattered the windows of an auto repair shop and set off what appeared to be a firework inside.

Outside the Ferguson police station, an hours-long stand-off ensued between protesters and police officers in riot gear. The officers were backed up, for the first time, by National Guard troops in camouflage fatigues. The dozens of troops, wearing riot helmets and holding riot shields, mostly stood behind metal barricades blocking the entrance to the police station’s parking lot. But a team of troops also helped apprehend a few protesters and ended up wrestling some to the ground. Convoys of National Guard Humvees were seen driving around town.

“In many ways, while it’s perhaps alarming to some folks, I think at the same time it’s probably comforting to some, because it allows us to gain that measure of control,” Chief Belmar said.

At the police headquarters, an assortment of projectiles were hurled at the National Guard troops and the officers, a box of which the authorities brought with them to show reporters. The collection included bottles of what appeared to be urine, shards of glass, batteries, tent poles, a long tree branch, aerosol cans and firecrackers.

Also on Tuesday, a car parked in the Canfield Green apartment complex, where Michael Brown was shot, was set ablaze. It was in a lot adjacent to Mr. Brown’s memorial. Firefighters let it burn, Chief Belmar said, in part because of the sporadic gunfire in the area.

Despite those episodes, officials said the evening did not compare to the widespread mayhem, looting and arsons on Monday. “Our plan moving forward is to continue to make sure this community is safe, that businesses are maintained and that people still have their rights for freedom of speech,” said Capt. Ronald S. Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Both Captain Johnson and Chief Belmar continued to defend their response to the rioting on Monday. They have been criticized for being too restrained in their efforts to prevent looting and arsons.

“I don’t think anybody thought it was going to be this magnitude,” Captain Johnson said of the rioting. “If you look through the recent history of our country, we have not seen anything like this.”

— MANNY FERNANDEZ

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