XPost: alt.politics, alt.politics.democrats.d, alt.abortion   
   XPost: sbay.politics   
   From: lal@fire.com   
      
   Putting a local black in charge sure calmed all those wild   
   animals down, dinnit?  LMAO!   
      
   The Missouri state trooper in charge of directing the law   
   enforcement response to protests that have rocked a St. Louis   
   suburb slammed "violent agitators" who he said were using   
   largely peaceful protests as "cover" to commit criminal acts.   
      
   Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson told reporters in   
   Ferguson early Tuesday that 31 people had been arrested during a   
   night of unrest that followed a day of largely peaceful protest.   
   As Johnson spoke, two handguns and a Molotov cocktail that he   
   said had been confiscated during the night by authorities lay on   
   a table in front of him.   
      
   The majority-black town of approximately 21,000 has been roiled   
   by unrest since the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was   
   fatally shot by a white police officer following a confrontation   
   of some kind on the afternoon of August 9. Local authorities   
   have fired tear gas and smoke canisters on an almost daily basis   
   at protesters upset with the response to the shootings by   
   Ferguson Police.   
      
   A visibly angry Johnson said that officers had come under heavy   
   gunfire from protesters and at least two people had been shot.   
   Johnson said he did not know the condition of the shooting   
   victims. Four officers had been injured when they were struck by   
   rocks or bottles, though Johnson claimed that police had not   
   fired a single shot.   
      
   Citing what he called a "dangerous dynamic in the night,"   
   Johnson requested that protests take place during the daylight   
   hours, so that officers could effectively isolate any   
   troublemakers. However, Johnson said that his forces could not   
   make protesters leave the streets after sunset if they did not   
   want to.   
      
   "This nation is watching each and every one of us," said   
   Johnson. "I am not going to let the criminals that have come   
   here from across this country, or live in this neighborhood,   
   define this community." Johnson added that some of those who had   
   been arrested overnight had come from as far afield as New York   
   and California. The trooper also directed his wrath at the   
   assembled media, saying that they had put themselves and   
   officers in danger by failing to clear areas when asked before   
   imploring them to "not glamorize the acts of criminals."   
      
   "We do not want to lose another life in this community," Johnson   
   added.   
      
   Shortly before midnight local time, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch   
   reported that police fired tear gas at a group of protesters who   
   had reportedly defied orders to leave the parking lot of a   
   burned-out QuikTrip convenience store that has been near the   
   center of demonstrations over the past eight day. St. Louis   
   County Police Chief Sam Dotson told reporters that shots had   
   been fired in the area and media members were told to go to a   
   designated area about a quarter of a mile away.   
      
   Late Monday, reporters estimated that the number of protesters   
   had dropped to around 100, far fewer than the number of media   
   members who were covering them.   
      
   A photographer for the Getty photo agency was arrested while   
   covering the demonstrations and later released. Two German   
   reporters were arrested and detained for three hours.   
   Conservative German daily Die Welt said correspondent Ansgar   
   Graw and reporter Frank Herrmann, who writes for German regional   
   papers, were arrested after allegedly failing to follow police   
   instructions to vacate an empty street. They said they followed   
   police orders.   
      
   At his news conference, Johnson said in some cases it was not   
   immediately clear who was a reporter but that once it was   
   established, police acted properly.   
      
   As darkness fell, National Guard units with armored vehicles   
   were waiting at a staging area about a half-mile from the   
   portion of West Florissant Avenue that has been the scene of the   
   largest protests. Closer to the protest site, a crowd of   
   demonstrators was marching and growing in size. Sheriff's   
   deputies in body armor and state troopers carrying wooden bats   
   and gas masks stood watch over the group.   
      
   The Post-Dispatch reported that some protesters began throwing   
   bottles at police shortly after 10 p.m. local time. Authorities   
   responded by ordering protesters to clear the streets and firing   
   high-pitched sound cannons.   
      
   Another group of protesters marched toward the police lines and   
   stopped, defying orders that demonstrators could not assemble in   
   a single spot, but had to keep moving instead. The Post-Dispatch   
   reported that an armored vehicle moved down the street trying to   
   clear the crowd and a group of pastors locked arms and helped to   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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