Live updates: Chaos in Ferguson

Two men shot during another night of violent protests in Ferguson, Mo., have not yet been identified. But police confirmed early Tuesday that officers were not involved in the shootings.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald Johnson said in an early morning news briefing he had no updates on the shooting victims and no information on their identities. He later told reporters one person was shot in the hand.

“We can’t have this,” he said following the 2:20 a.m. news briefing. “We do not want any citizen hurt, we don’t want any officer hurt. But when you’re shooting in apartment complexes and children are laying in the bed in apartment complexes and bullets are flying through the air… The old saying on the street is, ‘A bullet has no name.’ We do not want to lose another life in this community.”

After the news conference, reporters asked Johnson if any of the 31 people arrested Monday night were journalists. He said no but explained that, amid chaos, officers aren’t always certain who is media and who is not.

“We may take some of you into custody, but when we do take you into custody and we have found out that you are journalists we have taken the proper action,” he said.

Johnson said police also have a responsiblity to protect journalists.

“We are going to make this neighborhood whole,” he said. “We are going to make this community whole. We’re going to do it together. And I am not going to let the criminals that have come from across the country or live in the community define this neighborhood or define what we’re going to do to make it right.”

Capt. Ronald Johnson speaking to press now.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald Johnson is preparing for a press conference in Ferguson, Mo.

During a live interview with CNN early Tuesday morning, he did not disclose the details of the briefing but said: “I’m hoping when I’m done with that briefing, the press and I are still friends.”

“I walked out there an asked for peace,” Johnson said in an interview with CNN. “… I wanted to do everything I can to make this peaceful. I walked out in the middle of that and could have been injured.”

He added: “I know the people we arrested tonight were not being peaceful.”

Early Tuesday, Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald Johnson talked to CNN reporters about the evening’s protests. Here are the highlights:

“Protesters became large and agitated … and several of the groups tried to get media attention and agitated the response. When police stepped in, they began to throw frozen water bottles at officers,” Johnson said.

Was police response necessary?

Johnson said yes. “The crowd began to walk past the designated area for protesters … and then they turned back. When a large group got to our area, they became agitated and one threw an explosive device on the ground,” he said.

He added: “We also had a gentleman in the crowd who had a weapon.” He said the person was part of security for a news team.

When is it appropriate for police to take action?

“It becomes a balance on how long do we wait,” Johnson said, explaining that officers waited to respond during Sunday night’s protests. “Yesterday, the crowd began to grow and grow … and before we knew it they were all the way up to our command post. … Tonight we had gunfire that occurred.” He said police had to act.

Does a massive show of force cause more problems than it solves?

“Our peaceful protesters are not the enemy,” Johnson said. “They’re not. But also you saw tonight … we received gunshots. We have two we transported to the hospital.”

Johnson said those transported to the hospital were not shot by law enforcement.

Police are dispersing everyone on West Florissant in Ferguson, Mo., including credentialed media, after gunshots were reportedly fired, according to several media outlets. Washington Post reporter Krissah Thompson said demonstrators who remain on the street are being arrested. Officers formed a line directly in front of the media and members of the press were asked to return to a cordoned-off media area up the hill.

Police are asking the media to clear the area. Shots fired. pic.twitter.com/4czTUqjnqE

— FOX2now (@FOX2now) August 19, 2014

Air smells like gun powder. Not like tear gas. Gun powder

— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 19, 2014

Saint Louis County Police were in an armored vehicle parked in the middle of the street. Two law enforcement officers stood atop with binoculars. Press is slowly dispersing.

Huge armored trucks and officers with weapons drawn advancing down Canfield

— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 19, 2014

At 11 p.m., a handful of residents stood at the memorial at the site where Michael Brown was killed, according to Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery. They poured out beer bottles and liquor next to the memorial, and discussed whether or not they would attend his funeral.

In the distance, the sounds of gun shots cut through the sky intermittently. Then huge bangs.

At the corner of Canfield and West Florissant, police deployed at least three separate volleys of tear gas. Hundreds scattered in every direction.

“They dropping bombs out the sky!” screamed one man as he dashed away from the thick clouds of smoke.

About a dozen young men prepared to fight back, grabbing bottles and rocks:

“I’ve got gas if you’ve got bottles.”

“Who has got lighter fluid?”

Residents ignited a fire in the street as officers continue to blast the area with thick layers of tear gas. The fire, they hoped, would stop officers from advancing.

“I got gas I got bombs” handful of men about to light building on fire pic.twitter.com/sQVFaK2ZvS

— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 19, 2014

Meanwhile, police tactical vehicles sped down the street. At 11:15 p.m. came another round of tear gas, landing in loud booms that sent most of the rest of the crowd scattering.

One person shot in the hand. Taken to @BarnesJewish #Ferguson

— FOX2now (@FOX2now) August 19, 2014

Police: “Please disperse immediately or you will be subject to arrest.”

The Ferguson crowd, which numbered in the hundreds two hours ago, has thinned to clusters of dozens of people — including many members of the media, Washington Post reporter Krissah Thompson said.

“Some of the media be like we provoking this. We standing on the sidewalk. They trained automatic weapons on us. They threw a water bottle. That’s it,” Carl Brown, a 26-year-old demonstrator, told Thompson.

It was a tense confrontation as protesters refused to move out of the street and threw bottles at officers. Police vehicles drove through the middle of the street and dropped a canister of tear gas, moving the crowd back. Several people left.

More gas, everyone runs. Hard to breathe

— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 19, 2014

Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery reporting sound of gunshots in Ferguson, Mo.:

As I work my way down side streets toward W. Florissant, unmistakable sound of gunfire. Then big booms

— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 19, 2014

“They dropping bombs out the sky” – resident running past me. Can’t confirm that at all, but hearing huge booms/seeing flashes

— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 19, 2014

Tear gas deployed

— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 19, 2014

Tear gas everywhere https://t.co/q6yWGWO6Af

— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 19, 2014

Am on Canfield, just a block or two where Brown shot. Tear has everywhere. Residents prepping to fight back with gas/rocks

— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) August 19, 2014

CNN reports Molotov cocktails thrown in Ferguson.

CNN reports shots fired in Ferguson.

Washington Post reporter Krissah Thompson said tear gas is being deployed in Ferguson, Mo.

Protestors beneath the QuikTrip stood in the middle of the street with their hands up and set up orange cones. Police threw out smoke bombs and flares. Demonstrators threw them back immediately and began sounding a alarm. West Florissant Street near the Quick Trip filled with smoke. Demonstrators continued to stand in the roadway and pulled Porta-Potties into the middle of the roadways.

Dozens of men and women stood at the darkened QuikTrip parking lot. Some held their hands up. A police helicopter flew low overhead.

“If you are on the QuikTrip parking lot, you are unlawfully assembled. You need to continue to move,” an officer said repeatedly. A confrontation seems imminent.

At the same time, Gov. Jay Nixon tweeted:

Let’s show the world that we can protest peacefully & passionately. Let’s keep #Ferguson safe tonight

— Governor Jay Nixon (@GovJayNixon) August 19, 2014

Up until 9:30 p.m., calm prevailed on the three-block span of West Florissant where protesters gathered. Under National Guard rules, protesters were asked to stay out of the streets and to continuously walk on sidewalks. The crowd was again a mixture, young parents and toddlers in strollers, along with shirtless young men.

“Lord, I’m just trying to go home,” said a woman walking with a cane as members of the crowd began to run.

Shirtless young men cursed police in gas masks as police ordered the crowd to disperse and began to sound alarms when any members of the crowd stopped marching.

“F— a cops,” a young man yelled.

“We’re going to take your badges and shove it up your a–,” another said earlier to a state trooper.

“You are?” the law enforcement officer responded.

Tear gas used tonight as well as stun grenades.

Former NBA star and current ESPN sports analyst Jalen Rose told his Twitter followers Monday night that #Ferguson is a serious issue.

#Ferguson is not a viral fad. These social & moral issues need to be addressed.

— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) August 19, 2014

Rose kept the conversation going, responding to comments from followers.

@JalenRose and I hate when people call him a thug. I stole an Eazy E cassette when I was 12, guess that makes me a thug to

— John Panos (@JohnPanos2) August 19, 2014

@JohnPanos2 I stole Ice Cube Death Certificate from Tower while in college.

— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) August 19, 2014

And:

@JalenRose what about Chicago? 6 killed 25 wounded in one weekend? You don’t care about that?

— TD (@timbdickson) August 19, 2014

@timbdickson I’m a champion for that cause as well. #respect

— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) August 19, 2014

Side note: Nelly was wearing a #MikeBrown T-shirt when he spoke to protesters on Monday.

#DEVELOPING: @Nelly_Mo, a St. Louis native, has joined protestors in #Ferguson. #MikeBrown pic.twitter.com/ymoqnzdTPI

— Eli Rosenberg (@EliKMBC) August 19, 2014

Getty Images photographer Scott Olson, who was arrested Monday night while covering protests in Ferguson, has been released and is back to work, according to Twitter reports.

Getty photojournalist Scott Olson who was wrongfully arrested earlier for shooting is now back to work in #Fergurson pic.twitter.com/heY1GvUQVR

— Alex Wroblewski (@alexwroblewski) August 19, 2014

According to a statement from Getty Images:

Getty Images staff photographer Scott Olson, who was arrested this afternoon in Ferguson, Missouri, while on assignment, has been released. Scott told me tonight, “I want to be able to do my job as a member of the media and not be arrested for just doing my job.”

Getty Images condemns Scott’s arrest and is committed to ensuring that he and our other photographer colleagues are able to report this important story.

Earlier in the evening, Getty Images said it was working to get him out.

Getty statement on Scott Olson’s arrest: “committed to ensuring he is able to resume his important work” #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/AafZnvSV1D

— Neetzan Zimmerman (@neetzan) August 19, 2014

Earlier, President Barack Obama said:

There is also no excuse for police to use excessive force against peaceful protests or to throw protesters in jail for lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights. And here in the United States of America, police should not be arresting or bullying journalists who are just trying to do their jobs.

Here’s a link to some of Olson’s Ferguson photos.

The mother of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman in 2012, wrote an open letter Monday night to the family of 18-year-old Michael Brown, to share her journey since her son’s death and pray for the Browns as they begin theirs.

Sybrina Fulton wrote about her concerns over gun violence, saying, “Our children are our future so whenever any of our children – black, white, brown, yellow, or red – are taken from us unnecessarily, it causes a never-ending pain that is like unlike anything I could have imagined experiencing.”

The letter went on to talk about the Browns’ journey ahead:

Further complicating the pain and loss in this tragedy is the fact that the killer of your son is alive, known, and currently free. In fact, he is on paid administrative leave. Your own feelings will bounce between sorrow and anger. Even when you don’t want to think about it because it is so much to bear, you will be forced to by merely turning on your television or answering your cell phone. You may find yourselves pulled in many different directions by strangers who may be well-wishers or detractors. Your circle will necessarily close tighter because the trust you once, if ever, you had in “the system” and their agents are forever changed. Your lives are forever changed.

However with those changes come new challenges and opportunities. You will experience a swell of support from all corners of the world. Many will express their sympathies and encourage you to keep fighting for Michael. You will also, unfortunately, hear character assassinations about Michael which I am certain you already have. This will incense and insult you. All of this will happen before and continue long after you have had the chance to lay your son to rest.

In the end, Fulton urged the Browns to fight for justice:

But know this: neither of their lives shall be in vain. The galvanizations of our communities must be continued beyond the tragedies. While we fight injustice, we will also hold ourselves to an appropriate level of intelligent advocacy. If they refuse to hear us, we will make them feel us. Some will mistake that last statement as being negatively provocative. But feeling us means feeling our pain; imagining our plight as parents of slain children. We will no longer be ignored. We will bond, continue our fights for justice, and make them remember our children in an appropriate light. I would hate to think that our lawmakers and leaders would need to lose a child before protecting the rest of them and making the necessary changes NOW…

Fulton is the founder the Trayvon Martin Foundation, which aims to create awareness and support for families who are victims of violent crime.

“I will support you and your efforts to seek justice for your Michael and the countless other Michaels & Trayvons of our country,” Felton wrote to the family.

The hip hop community came out to march with the demonstrators who’ve taken to the streets for 10 nights straight. Washington Post reporter Krissah Thompson said Monday night that Nelly, the St. Louis born rapper, spoke to a thick crowd in a parking lot at West Florissant and Ferguson Avenue in Ferguson, Mo., through a bull horn.

“Don’t get it twisted. It has been things that have happened behind the scenes as far as getting people to rally and getting scholarships in the name of Mike Brown,” he said just before sun down.

Here’s rapper Nelly, on the scene of the protests:

H/t Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post

Nelly is a native of St. Louis, and has been active in the community following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

Nelly orating with a bullhorn. Tells crowd they need a plan. People ask what his plan is. He doesn’t have a plan pic.twitter.com/CywUyVkGmA

— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) August 19, 2014

Nelly telling huge crowd to demonstrate passionately. pic.twitter.com/GDHPzT50Dc — ed lavandera (@edlavaCNN) August 19, 2014

Right now in #Fergusonpic.twitter.com/5HKrMEV6R8

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) August 19, 2014

Reaction to his presence was mixed.

Ricky Vantreece, a 32-year-old who loved in St. Louis, heckled Nelly.

“He got his money. He’s gone,” said Vantreece, who accused the artist of participating in a publicity stunt.

The rapper, who’s biggest hits include “Hot in Herrre” and “Pimp Juice,” had his bestselling album in 2000.

“He really don’t come to St. Louis. He really don’t do nothing for St. Louis but he’s from here,” said Justine Turner, 20. “Some people are upset that he’s here.”

Her friend Jamaul Jefferies, 22, noted that Chicago rapper J Cole had been in town for a day before Nelly showed up.

“J Cole came. He’s not from here,” Jefferies said. “He didn’t have to come.”

A young girl hands out roses to demonstrators on West Florissant Avenue. (Ed Zurga/European Pressphoto Agency)

FERGUSON — Tonight on West Florissant, the National Guard was allowing people to march instead of clustering them together and restricting their movement.

People were handing out red roses to honor Michael Brown, and some police officers have been giving water to marchers.

Church leaders sang spirituals and protest songs, including “We Shall Overcome.”

The atmosphere so far? Party protest.

But St. Louis Metropolitan Police Major Ron Robinson was worried about what might happen later. “It’s not over,” Robinson said early Monday evening. “It’s gonna get worse before it gets better.”

— with Krissah Williams

Hedy Epstein, a Holocaust survivor and activist, was among those arrested in St. Louis-area protests on Monday, according to reports.

Epstein told The Post she was arrested at a demonstration outside the building that houses Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon’s downtown St. Louis office. She was given an October court date, but her charges remain unclear. The information she was given by authorities carry a charging number, she said, but no one explained what it stood for.

“There’s a number, and I don’t know what that number means,” Epstein said in a phone interview Monday night.

Hedy Epstein, a 90 y.o. Holocaust survivor, was among the those arrested for blocking Nixon office bldg. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/s4y68zFFrF

— Steven Hsieh 謝章仁 (@stevenjhsieh) August 18, 2014

Police taking Hedy Epstein away. They were nice to her. They took her away in a bus w/ other protesters #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/VP2ni0VrK3 — Sabina England (@SabinaEngland) August 18, 2014

According to the St. Louis station KMOV, protesters were arrested on failure to disperse charges. Epstein said authorities asked the crowd to leave, and when they didn’t, police started making arrests.

Epstein turned 90 on Friday.

“This is how I’m starting the 10th decade of my life,” she said.

From The Post’s Paul Farhi:

As reporters have discovered over the past week, there’s no journalism textbook on how to cover a riot. There’s also little experience to fall back on: Most of the people covering Ferguson weren’t born yet when American cities were swept up in the urban riots of the 1960s.

Authorities have scrambled, too, to accommodate the invading media army, which now numbers several hundred. Officials established a media zone — an area designated by crime-scene tape — on West Florissant Avenue, near the turmoil last week. The “pen” is designed to enable journalists to view officials’ response to the protesters and rioters, and to offer a central spot for news updates. Reporters were told they risked arrest if they left the designated area.

Two problems: There wasn’t much to see from the pen, and the official updates weren’t very helpful….

This has forced reporters to wander farther afield in search of the story, often into dangerous territory.

“I’ve been through [Hurricane] Katrina, so I’ve been around the block, and this might rank right up there” in terms of uncertainty and risk, said Trymaine Lee, an MSNBC reporter who is covering events in the suburban St. Louis town. “There were a few moments when you felt that anything could happen.”

Read more here.

Photojournalist Scott Olson was arrested in Ferguson this afternoon.

Here are just a few of the memorable photographs Olson has taken since the unrest began. All via Getty Images.

Read more here about previous reporter arrests in Ferguson.

Scott Olson, a photographer for Getty Images, was arrested Monday evening while covering protests in the St. Louis area, according to reports on Twitter.

You can find Olson’s work here. The circumstances surrounding Olson’s arrest were not immediately clear.

Getty statement on Scott Olson’s arrest: “committed to ensuring he is able to resume his important work” #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/AafZnvSV1D

— Neetzan Zimmerman (@neetzan) August 19, 2014

Here are a few images from the scene:

SLPD arresting Getty’s Scott Olson pic.twitter.com/uzfqQ8AkUN

— Pearl Gabel (@PearlGabel) August 18, 2014

Just saw the arrest of one photographer on West Florissant Avenue in #Ferguson. — Alan Blinder (@alanblinder) August 18, 2014

Guess the cops don’t want people in the street. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/FCy4fYo5wg

— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) August 18, 2014

Photographer just led away with hands zip-tied behind his back. #Ferguson — Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) August 18, 2014

Photographer, who told bystanders he wS working for Getty, was just arrested in #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/sI1vInJizi — Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) August 18, 2014

Three reporters were arrested at protests on Sunday night, and at least one protester appeared to be arrested Monday as crowds gathered in downtown St. Louis.

Today: protesters chant “Hands up, don’t shoot” in front of Gov. Jay Nixon’s office. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/TKRflm2qGA — NationalLawyersGuild (@NLGnews) August 18, 2014

Protesters aren’t being let in, security told me they’re not here on “official business” – #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/6CleokqMnA

— Chris Stanford (@StanfordKMOV) August 18, 2014

Several protesters just arrested downtown #StL including this woman for “blocking the entrance” #ferguson pic.twitter.com/3Pjka8j0Tz — Chris Stanford (@StanfordKMOV) August 18, 2014

In the name of getting to the truth, Michael Brown’s body will undergo at least three autopsies.

Both the county medical examiner’s office and forensic pathologists Michael Baden and Shawn Parcells (who flew to Missouri to examine Brown at the request of the teenager’s family) have completed autopsy reports on Brown’s body. Following ongoing unrest after Brown’s death, the Department of Justice announced this weekend that it would conduct its own autopsy, making it the third such examination of the same body in a week’s time.

Is there a value in conducting multiple, consecutive examinations on the same body in a case like Brown’s? Experts say that while unusual, experienced forensic pathologists would have no trouble conducting an accurate second, or third autopsy. Read more.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that flights were barred from operating below 3,000 feet over Ferguson, Mo., “to provide a safe environment for law enforcement activities.”

This notice, which is good through Aug. 25, came at the direction of Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D).

A similar ban on low-flying aircraft was issued last week at the request of the St. Louis County Police Department, which said it had asked for the restrictions because its helicopter was shot at during looting and unrest on Sunday night. That notice lasted through Monday.

In the days that have followed the initial ban, the unrest has only grown, and Nixon and other officials have stepped in to try and manage an increasingly dangerous series of confrontations between residents and heavily-armed police.

Michael Baden, who conducted an independent autopsy at the request of Michael Brown’s family, discusses his findings Monday. (Roberto Rodriguez/EPA)

Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday criticized the way information regarding Michael Brown’s death has been released, but he asked for patience as the Department of Justice conducts its own civil rights investigation into the death of Michael Brown.

“The selective release of sensitive information that we have seen in this case so far is troubling to me,” Holder said in a statement. “No matter how others pursue their own separate inquiries, the Justice Department is resolved to preserve the integrity of its investigation.”

Holder’s criticism came as new details emerged Monday regarding two other inquiries into Brown’s death, part of a slow trickle of information in the days since Brown was killed.

Head to Post Nation for more.

If you call the City of Ferguson asking for a media representative, chances are your name will instead be sent to a small public relations firm called Common Ground PR.

After more than a week of unrest following Michael Brown’s shooting death, the city is overwhelmed with the sheer crush of national and global media on the scene.

Enter Common Ground, a seven-person PR firm based in Chesterfield, Mo. that has been charged with “helping triage media queries,” according to Denise Bentele, president and CEO of the firm.

“The city is only trying to be responsive to you guys,” Bentele said. “This is a little city and they don’t have public relations or media staff.”

Bentele couldn’t say how long the “short-term” contract with Ferguson will last, but judging by the fact that the city’s doesn’t have a functioning Web site at the moment, they may well need the extra help.

Some have also noted that in the midst of an enormous amount of racial strife, the PR firm hired by the city appears to be entirely white:

City of #Ferguson just hired a PR firm.Their entire team appears to be white: http://t.co/vCcIDPcZZn pic.twitter.com/ONUKrTkg6X

— Andrea Peterson (@kansasalps) August 18, 2014

In remarks Monday afternoon on Ferguson, President Obama talked about the tense situation, calling for calm and peace rather than anger and violence.

“Let’s seek to heal rather than to wound each other,” Obama said.

Obama said that Attorney General Eric Holder updated him on Monday about the status of the civil rights investigation being conducted by the Justice Department.

“They are on the ground and along with the FBI, they are devoting substantial resources to that investigation,” Obama said of the Justice investigators.

Holder is heading to Ferguson on Wednesday to receive an update on the investigation and meet with community leaders.

Obama again said that while most protesters are acting peacefully, those who are looting or attacking police are only raising tensions. But, he said, there is “no excuse for excessive force by police.”

“In too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement,” Obama said. “In too many communities, too many young men of color are left behind and only seen as objects of fear.”

Gen. Greg Mason of the Missouri National Guard, who will oversee the National Guard’s response in Missouri, said Monday that “well-trained, well-seasoned soldiers” will be deployed in the city to help maintain order.

Mason and Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson spoke to reporters at a news briefing, which came several hours after Gov. Jay Nixon (D) announced that the National Guard was being called to Ferguson.

Johnson said law enforcement officials will not allow vandals and looting to disturb the overall security of the community.

The National Guard will report to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which will maintain control of security in Ferguson, according to Nixon’s office.

A police officer throws a tear gas canister. (Ed Zurga/European Pressphoto Agency)

Rep. William “Lacy” Clay (D-Mo.) will meet with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to push for changes to the Pentagon’s Excess Property Program, which has supplied local police departments with billions of dollars in military-grade equipment.

Clay, whose congressional district includes Ferguson, led a Monday-morning conference call of House Democrats, during which he announced to lawmakers that Hagel had agreed to a one-on-one meeting to discuss modifying the decades-old program.

The 1033 Program, as it is sometimes called, has generated bipartisan complaints about the militarization of police in places like St. Louis County, where Ferguson protesters have been confronted by armored vehicles and police wearing body armor and wielding assault rifles.

A spokesman for Clay confirmed the meeting with Hagel would take place, although it’s unclear when that huddle will occur.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) plans to introduce legislation in September to place new limits on the program and what sorts of weapons the Pentagon can offer to local police forces.

News continues to trickle out of Ferguson, which has been roiled by unrest since the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown on Aug. 9.

Here, pathologist Shawn Parcells discusses the preliminary results of the second autopsy conducted on Brown.

You can find more video updates from Ferguson here.

President Obama plans to address the situation in Ferguson at 4 p.m.

Black and white Americans are responding very, very differently to the situation in Ferguson. While “this one chart that explains [something]” posts are often overdone, this one chart does illustrate the different responses very clearly:

The death of Michael Brown and the ensuing response was always going to lead to a racially charged situation in Ferguson — an area where black drivers are much more likely to be stopped as white drivers — as well as in how people are reacting to this story. Still, the gulf here is really notable. Aaron Blake has much more over at The Fix.

Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald Johnson (L) and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon speak to the media on Aug. 15. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“There are plenty of foreign journalists reporting on Ferguson,” Adam Taylor and Rick Noack write on WorldViews, “and for them, Ferguson is foreign news.”

So how is the foreign press covering the story? From the WorldViews post:

• British coverage of Ferguson has emphasized the racial drama that lies behind the riots or the scale of the police response.
• Germany’s Zeit Online, a centrist news site, saw the death of Michael Brown as testimony for deep-rooted racism in the U.S. and concluded that “the situation of African-Americans has barely improved since Martin Luther King.”
• Le Figaro – the main conservative voice of France – focused less on the remaining racial tensions in the U.S. than on “the excessive militarization of the police forces.”
• In China, official coverage of the Ferguson riots has been muted, perhaps due to worrying parallels with situations closer to home.

Read more here.

Protesters in Ferguson on Sunday. (Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Associated Press)

In an unusual move for the global rights organization, Amnesty International dispatched a delegation of observers and organizers to Ferguson late last week — the first deployment of its kind by Amnesty within the United States, the organization said.

Amnesty dispatched the 13-person delegation on Thursday, a day after Amnesty International USA’s Executive Director Steven Hawkins sent a letter to law enforcement officials there expressing “deep concern” about the death of Michael Brown and the way in which the police responded to protesters.

Read more here.

The violence that erupted in Ferguson overnight despite a state-imposed curfew has left some wondering what it will take to stop the unrest.

One Ferguson resident, community activist Dennis Brown, 46, suggested that the problem goes far deeper than the shooting of Michael Brown.

“These young people are angry because they want justice,” Brown said. “This didn’t happen overnight. The problems in St. Louis have been happening for years. It was a pot ready to boil over.”

“Missouri is one of the most racist states in the country,” he added. “You have problems with racial profiling. Young people being pulled over. DWB’s. Driving while black. Young people sitting on the sides of roads. There’s a lack of jobs. A lack of employment.”

Brown said young people are organizing their protests on social media. He also believes that some of the protesters responsible for the violence over the past week are from Ferguson, not outside communities.

 “They are not gang leaders. They are normal people. They are people showing their anger,” he said. 

“They say this is enough. They see Trayvon Martin. They saw Fruitvale Station. And before that, there was Rodney King. And those cops walk.”

“There’s always a time in history when great things happen to strike at the core people. These young  people are saying enough is enough. This is the time when things change.”

Gov. Jay Nixon (D) announced Monday that the curfew would be lifted in Ferguson following two nights of protests and clashes between heavily-armed police and residents.

This decision came because the Missouri National Guard has been called in to help with security in Ferguson, Nixon said in a statement.

Head here for more.

Ferguson resident Piaget Crenshaw told CNN that she witnessed Michael Brown’s shooting death — and that she captured the moments after his death on video. CNN first aired the video, along with Crenshaw’s interview, on Monday.

Crenshaw said:

“From it all initially happening, I knew this is not right…I knew the police shouldn’t have been chasing this young boy and firing at the same time. The fact that he got shot in his face, it was like something clicked in me … this isn’t right. I gotta record.”

Crenshaw said she held off on releasing the video until now on the advice of her lawyer. Read more here.

St. Louis Alderman Antonio French has been on the streets of Ferguson night and day for more than a week, tweeting his account of protests and clashes with police since the shooting of Michael Brown on Aug. 9.

He has consistently argued that the police response has overwhelmingly outweighed the threat of violence — until now.

In a series of tweets, French sounded the alarm that a small group of “insurgents” is to blame for the increase in violence and chaos he witnessed on the streets of Ferguson on Sunday night:

These people are not protestors. This is something different and it has little to do with #JusticeForMikeBrown.

— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) August 18, 2014

There is a small group of people who cannot be defined as protestors/demonstrators. They are more like fighters/rebels/insurgents. #Ferguson

— Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) August 18, 2014

Read more here.

A woman receives relief after tear gas was fired at demonstrators in Ferguson on Sunday night. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

Yet again, crowds gathered in the streets of Ferguson on Sunday night. Yet again, there was chaos.

From The Post this morning:

Police said protesters fired at least 30 gunshots and threw Molotov cocktails at officers. Police blocked off Ferguson’s main avenue, and hundreds of officers in riot gear advanced on the crowd and began firing tear gas. Some of the demonstrators, covering their faces with scarves and napkins, tossed the tear gas canisters back at police…

The air was thick with smoke, and people could be heard shouting, “Hard to breathe!”

Here’s how the demonstrations and the police response looked overnight.

The National Guard is being deployed to Ferguson following yet another night of tense, violent standoffs between residents and a heavily-armed police force. Here is our latest dispatch from what is happening on the ground.

Since Michael Brown was shot and killed on Aug. 9, several key questions have not been answered. In Ferguson and beyond, many have asked for information about how he was killed — how many gunshot wounds, where on his body Brown was shot — even as these details were not known.

On Monday, the first details coming from autopsies have been coming out.

Attorneys for Brown’s family revealed information from an autopsy that the family requested, which they said showed that Brown was trying to surrender when he was killed. This medical examiner also revealed additional details about where Brown was struck; head here for more.

Meanwhile, the county investigation has found that Brown was hit in the front, between six and eight times. Head here for more on what that autopsy found.

Since chaos erupted in the streets of Ferguson, Mo., more than a week ago, journalists from all over the world have flocked to the scene. They have also, increasingly, become the target of police arrests.

Overnight, several journalists reported being detained, threatened or prevented from covering the story.

Abby Phillip has more here.