Ferguson: Police tear gas people in own backyard, FAA closes airspace to media, Anonymous hacks

| WTF News | Riots in Ferguson, MO over the police shooting of unarmed Mike Brown continued as the militarized police response antagonized the situation. Residents, mostly African American, have vented years of frustration after multiple reports corroborate that Brown had his hands in the air as he prepared to surrender. The situation has become more heated after authorities released a statement saying they police would not release the name of the officer involved in the shooting.

KSDK ST. LOUIS COUNTY – For the third consecutive night, several people gathered on the streets of Ferguson to demand justice for Michael Brown, a teenager who was shot by a police officer Saturday. Police in riot gear met with the crowd who stood and sat outside of the QuikTrip that burned down to the ground Sunday ready to break up any outbreak of violence. Since Sunday night, people have stood side-by-side in the streets to demand justice for Michael Brown. That night and into Monday morning, the protests took a violent turn, which lead to looting and vandalizing throughout North County. NewsChannel 5′s Casey Nolen described periods of calm and tension throughout the night amongst the crowd, but the tension rose toward the latter part of the evening. Police began asking crowds to disperse and go home or be arrested. NewsChannel 5 reporter Christina Coleman reports on the situation following a rally at St. Mark’s Family Church. Hundreds marched from the QuikTrip to St. Mark’s Family Church, where a rally featuring Reverend Al Sharpton and the Brown family was held. The crowd poured out into the street following the meeting where they shouted, “No justice, no peace,” according to NewsChannel 5 reporter Christina Coleman. No police or violence was detected.

Tear gas fired at people in their own backyard

For the “you’re a slave” moment of the day.

Huff Post Richie West, 24, and a handful of friends and family members were watching from his backyard. They decided to protest — still on his property — shouting with their hands in the air, “You go home! You go home!” Police told them to disperse and then fired tear gas at them. West continued to shout, “This is my backyard! This is my shit!” And police fired again. “It’s pure ignorance,” West told the Riverfront Times. “I pay property taxes here. I should be able to be in my backyard any time.”

The familiar line of riot police moving up the street. This is the moment the first tear gas canister was fired, almost hitting the person behind the camera. Police state awareness seems to be a byproduct as scenes like this have been captured in many forms. Officers let unarmed protesters know high powered rifles are trained on them with laser sights. Officers in riot gear even pointed guns at a local politician who dared to film what he was seeing.
These are the sorts of scenes the police did not want recorded. Media were stopped from entering by roadblocks and the FAA shut down low level airspace over the area, preventing media aircraft from covering the riots.

Since Sunday night, the protests have spawned death threats and more.

KSDK Thousands of threats have been made against the Ferguson Police Department and the city council, and the hacker group Anonymous allegedly took down the city’s internet and phone capabilities. According to Captain Rick Henke of the Ferguson Police Department, calls have flooded the police station and city hall, with threats being made against the department and city council. No one has specifically been threatened, he said.

Apparently Anonymous has had a significant impact on communications.

KSDK 5 Henke said the city’s website had been down for several hours. The police and fire department email system was disrupted as well. Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III said information containing names, phone numbers and addresses of police officers and city leaders was made public on social media. City authorities and police are using a “phone chain” to communicate.

Friend says Mike Brown ‘murdered’