A TEMPORARY FLIGHT restriction has been placed over a Missouri town where an unarmed black teenager was shot dead.
The Federal Aviation Administration has agreed to order flight restrictions over Ferguson until Monday to give police helicopters access to that airspace.
This also means that press helicopters won’t be able to enter the area to record footage.
Here were the Chambers and West Florissant streets in Ferguson at 7am GMT:
https://vine.co/v/MY1eQZ0waPb
Police are already reported to have told journalists to leave the Ferguson area where the unrest is.
Meanwhile, hacker activist group Anonymous released this video, which says it supports the protesters.
It also demands legislation that will set strict national standards for police conduct and misbehaviour in the USA.
To the Ferguson Police Department and any other jurisdictions who are deployed to the protests: we are watching you very closely. If you abuse, harass – or harm in any way the protesters in Ferguson we will take every web based asset of your departments and governments off line. That is not a threat, it is a promise.
It comes as St Louis County police lead the investigation into the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old who was shot dead by police over the weekend.
The incident led to tensions in the town, with confrontations with police taking place during a candlelight vigil for Brown, followed by looting.
The vigil had initially been peaceful.
“Right now, the small group of people are creating a huge mess,” Ferguson Mayor James Knowles told local television station KTVI.
Contributing to the unrest that is going on is not going to help…
Identity of the officer
Peaceful protesters shout ‘Hands up! Don’t shoot!’:
https://vine.co/v/MYelWM325Ll
The Reverend Al Sharpton pressed police to release the name of the officer who fatally shot Brown. He also pleaded for calm after two nights of violent protests over the young man’s death.
According to the Associated Press:
Police said death threats prompted them to withhold the name of the officer, who was placed on administrative leave after fatally shooting 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, where the incident has stoked racial tension, rallies and a night of looting.
What is public knowledge is that a scuffle unfolded after the officer asked Brown and another teen to get out of the street. At some point, the officer’s weapon fired inside a patrol car, police said.
The officer has been with the force for about six years and was on a routine patrol when he encountered the two young men.
Police have not disclosed the race of the officer, but witnesses said he was white.
“The local authorities have put themselves in a position — hiding names and not being transparent — where people will not trust anything but an objective investigation,” Sharpton said during a news conference in St Louis where he was joined by Brown’s parents.
He also echoed pleas for peaceful protests by the NAACP and Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr, who told the crowd: “I need all of us to come together and do this right. … No violence.”
President Barack Obama also urged calm, saying people must comfort each other “in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.”
An old wound torn fresh
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon told a standing-room only crowd at a community forum last night that the shooting feels “like an old wound torn fresh” in a nation still struggling with race relations, said AP.
Ferguson’s mayor and police chief attended the meeting and were welcomed with applause.
The Ferguson police force has 53 officers, three of whom are black, and Jackson said the city has had trouble recruiting and retaining black officers.
Recounting a death
The fullest account of Brown’s death so far has come from Dorian Johnson, who said he was walking home from a convenience store with Brown when they were approached by an officer in a squad car who, using expletives, ordered them to move to the sidewalk.
Johnson told news crews that he and Brown had kept walking and explained to the officer they were near their destination. The officer then reversed his car “to where it almost hit us.”
The officer tried to open his door, said Johnson but he was so close to the men that it “ricocheted” back. Johnson said the officer then reached through the window, “grabbed my friend around the neck” and tried to pull him into the car.
The officer then reportedly pulled out his weapon and said, “‘I’ll shoot you,’ or ‘I’m going to shoot,’” Johnson said.
When the officer opened fire, Brown was hit and started to bleed, Johnson said. Johnson ran to hide behind a car.
Brown “kept running, and he told me to keep running because he feared for me, too,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the officer pursued Brown with his weapon drawn and fired again.
When Brown felt that shot, he turned around and put his hands in the air and started to get down on the ground. But the officer kept firing, Johnson said.
Police have said there is no security or police video of the confrontation.
- Additional reporting Associated Press
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