Tension prevails in Ferguson, a county in the suburb of St Louis after the brutal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed young black man by a police officer which ultimately led to his death. Ferguson, which is a working class suburb is mostly inhabited by blacks, but the police force consists mainly of whites. People are out in the streets for a fifth continuous day to protest against the police brutality. This latest incident reeks of a racial attack as there was no possible reason for the white police officer to shoot the guy who was running with his hands up in the air. The St. Louis police have withheld the identity of the police officer who shot Brown.
The police tried to disperse the protestors, but the crowd just ignored them as a result of which they had to resort to firing rubber bullets and unleash tear gas. The police sealed the entire area which witnessed looting and vandalism by anti-social elements on Sunday. The chief of police said that they did everything they could and showed extraordinary restraint while dealing with the situation. A lot of people were also arrested by the police to control the flare-up. Some of these people who were arrested include Antonio French who posted videos of the police presence during the protest on various social media platforms.
The Governor of Missouri Jay Nixon is closely monitoring the situation and has asked the law enforcement body to respect the rights of the citizens. According to Robert McCulloch, St. Louis County prosecutor, the authorities have decided not to release the details of the shooting as the investigation is still going on. He urged anyone with any information on the shooting to come forward to bring justice to the deceased. A parallel investigation is also being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the civil rights attorney.