Ferguson protests continue, 35 arrested during standoff in highway
Demonstrators attempting to block Interstate 70 in St. Louis on Wednesday to protest the fatal shooting of Michael Brown a month ago were barred by the police from entering the highway.
According to authorities, 35 people have been arrested, most for unlawful assembly but four for assaulting officers.
As traffic continued to move during the late-afternoon rush, demonstrators and police officers, some in riot gear, faced each other in a standoff, at times tense, on North Hanley Road at Interstate 70 near the St. Louis airport. The several dozen demonstrators were outnumbered by more than 100 officers from three law enforcement agencies.
One demonstrator, Charles Brooks, was among those who sat down in the road, shouting: “McCulloch got to go! McCulloch got to go!” — a reference to the St. Louis County prosecutor,Robert P. McCulloch, whose office is investigating the shooting. Asked why he had joined the protest, Mr. Brooks said, “I want to see justice served here.” Seconds later, he was picked up by officers, handcuffed and led to a bus from the Missouri Department of Corrections.
The demonstration, which formed shortly after 3 p.m., was generally peaceful. A handful of protesters threw stones, bricks, bottles and other objects at police officers.
But protesters said the police, dressed in riot gear, agitated an otherwise peaceful movement. The demonstration took place about five miles from the street in Ferguson where 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9.
Witnesses say Brown, who was unarmed, had his hands up in surrender when he was shot. Officer Wilson has been placed on leave, but no formal charges have been filed. About 50 protesters blocked traffic on one of the city’s main roads about a block from the Ferguson police station during another brief demonstration on Wednesday.
Black lives matter.
Sound off below!
