FERGUSON, Mo.,(Reuters) – Missouri’s governor lifted the curfew for the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson yesterday as National Guard troops were called out after days of violent unrest sparked by the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman.
The National Guard deployment is the latest in a series of steps by authorities to end the looting and burning of stores that have punctuated protests and raised questions about race relations in the United States since the shooting death of Michael Brown, 18, more than a week ago.
Governor Jay Nixon, who had declared a state of emergency for the town on Saturday and ordered the streets cleared for a curfew that ran from midnight to 5 a.m., said the National Guard would fall under the supervision of the Missouri Highway Patrol.
But retired local business owner Marshall Tucker said: “It ain’t getting no better with the National Guard coming in. That’ll be worse. Tonight it’s going to get really sticky.”
Shortly before nightfall on Monday, police with plastic handcuffs took positions and tried to clear a main thoroughfare where protests have taken place at night, directing crowds into designated protest areas.
“They tell you to stand still, then they tell you to keep walking, then they tell you to stand still,” said Mark Stafford, a church pastor from O’Fallon, Missouri.