For the fourth night in a row, angry protesters have stormed the streets in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis, to demand justice after cops shot and killed unarmed teen Michael Brown on Saturday afternoon.
And absolute chaos ensued.
Ignoring a sundown curfew that the city's police chief imposed after a related looting incident Sunday night, hundreds of people gathered last night shouting, "Stand up! Don't shoot!" and demanded to know the name of the police officer who had shot Brown. Cops, wearing riot gear and carrying shields, reportedly threatened to arrest anyone who remained on the street after 9 p.m. Some protesters began setting off Molotov cocktails and throwing bottles at cops and police reportedly fired tear gas and smoke bombs into the crowd.
Some are saying the protests started off peacefully, with demonstrators handing out buttons that featured Brown's photo and wearing signs on their bodies that read, "Don't shoot." All hell seemed to break loose after police issued repeated warnings over loudspeakers for the crowd to disperse and go home. When their warnings were disregarded, they reportedly began setting off smoke bombs to force the crowd to disperse.
Several people were arrested, including two reporters from The Washington Post and Huffington Post. Both journalists have since been released and claim they were assaulted, but not seriously injured.
The incident that has spurred these violent episodes took place on Saturday afternoon when Brown and a friend were reportedly stopped by police officers while walking to his grandmother's house. Dorian Johnson, Brown's friend, says cops cursed at and attacked them and that they hadn't provoked them in any way. He claims Brown didn't try and reach for the officer's gun and that he was shot several times in the head and chest.
Police claim one of their officers exited his vehicle and approached the teens and that one of them pushed him back into the car.
As of now, this is still a case of "he said, he said" and we are no closer to learning what really happened that day. But it's clear that something has to give here before people are seriously injured or worse as rioting continues in Ferguson.
What do you think about the violent protests taking place in Ferguson?
Image via Jeff Roberson/AP/Corbis