Tear gas, gunfire and arrests marked the eighth day of unrest in the St. Louis suburb that has become a powder keg since an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by police Aug. 9.
“You are violating the state curfew,” a police officer told protesters over a loudspeaker just before 1 a.m. today. “You must disperse immediately. Failure to comply may result in arrest or other actions.”
Minutes later, tear gas canisters flew through the sky toward the group of about 200 protesters. The show of force by police against demonstrators was a marked departure from the previous night, when officers watched from afar as people looted several stores. It underscores the tense relations between law enforcement and residents of Ferguson, a mostly black city where protests and unrest have drawn international attention.
