St. Louis County declares state of emergency, protesters march through city
A state of emergency was declared in St. Louis County Monday afternoon following a violent night in Ferguson Sunday.
County police officers shot an 18-year-old after they said he shot at their cars during Sunday night’s protests.
ABC 17 News was in Ferguson on West Florissant Ave. Sunday night when that happened.
The declaration puts county police in charge of all emergency services in Ferguson.
“The recent acts of violence will not be tolerated in a community that has worked so tirelessly over the last year to rebuild and become stronger. The time and investment in Ferguson and Dellwood will not be destroyed by a few that wish to violate the rights of others,” said St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar will move the command center for police to Ferguson for any potential protests that happen Monday night.
Sunday night, 18-year-old Tyrone Harris of St. Louis was shot by county officers.
Police claimed two groups started shooting at each other on West Florissant during protests for the officer-involved killing of Michael Brown last year.
Belmar said early Monday morning 4 officers in plain clothes responded to the situation, and saw Harris running with a gun.
They said Harris started shooting at them, which caused officers to get out, chase him, and eventually shoot him during a gunfight.
Harris is now charged with 10 crimes, including assault on a law enforcement officer.
Last year, Governor Nixon declared a state of emergency after a few days of violence erupting in Ferguson, putting the state Highway Patrol in charge.
On Monday, protesters marched through St. Louis in a day of action, leading to dozens of arrests.
“We are the gate to humanity. We are the gates to justice. So we will lift our hands up. And we will claim and we will proclaim. Will not just pray, but we will pray with our feet,” said groups of protesters in St. Louis County.
Federal police detained 57 people during Monday’s protest at the Eagleton courthouse.
Protesters climbed over the barricades set up in front of the building, sitting down in front of the doors before city police and Homeland Security arrested them.
One protester told ABC 17 News after a year of participating in protests. she felt an arrest was only a small sacrifice for the cause of pushing for reforms in policing.
Leaders of the protest called for the Department of Justice to push for more changes to laws on use of force and how they track them.
