Notes

Three arrested in Ferguson after protester says he was struck by car

By Denise Hollinshed
and Steve Giegerich
of the Post-Dispatch

Three people were arrested during protests near the Ferguson Police Department on Saturday afternoon after a protester claimed he was bumped by a passing vehicle, police said.

The incident triggered a round of standoffs between police and protesters, who blocked traffic on the street.

About 35 people were protesting at 2:16 p.m. on South Florissant Road about a block from the police department when a protester claimed he had been bumped by a vehicle, according to Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson. The driver was arrested, along with a protester who damaged the man’s car. A third man was taken into custody when he ignored police orders to get out of the roadway.

Jackson said no one reported any injuries, but some protesters alleged on social media that some of them were hurt, and criticized police for not calling for ambulances or medical assistance.

A short time later, more people joined as the protesters blocked traffic on South Florissant in front of the police department, forcing vehicles to divert to side streets. About 80 to 100 protesters stood in the street chanting at cars, “Turn around for Mike Brown.”

After blocking the road, the protesters faced off with Ferguson police shortly after 5 p.m. on a sidewalk in front of the police station, at 222 South Florissant.

Police warned the protesters that they would be arrested if they again blocked the road, and the protesters remained on the sidewalks.

Saturday morning, there was an altercation between protesters and customers at the Ferguson Farmers Market. Protesters alleged that at least one marketgoer had struck a marcher. Ferguson police said no one was arrested there.

Thomas Ball, a preacher from Atlanta who had observed the situation in Ferguson from afar, traveled to North County to support and counsel demonstrators. “There’s nothing you can do with this,” he said, gesturing toward protesters sitting in South Florissant Road on Saturday afternoon. “But maybe meaningful talk will come out of it.”

After police left, a small group of demonstrators convened in the parking lot of an auto parts store across from the police station to plan for Tuesday’s Ferguson City Council meeting.

“The more organized we are, the more powerful we can be,” a group leader told the gathering.

Protesters intend to voice concern at the meeting over shortcomings they see in a city plan to establish a Citizen Review Board to monitor police.

By 9 p.m. Saturday, about 50 protesters remained in front of the police station. They were joined by state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, as they chanted their intention to vote for Republican state Rep. Rick Stream for St. Louis County executive in the November general election.

Several social justice groups have criticized the Democratic candidate, Steve Stenger, who has refused demands that he call for the removal of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch. McCulloch is in charge of the investigation of the Aug. 9 police shooting of Michael Brown that prompted protests and looting.

McCulloch was Stenger’s chief political ally in Stenger’s primary defeat of incumbent County Executive Charlie Dooley just days before Brown was shot to death.

Nicholas J.C. Pistor of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.