Holocaust Survivor Arrested in Ferguson Protest

Tear gas fired, 2 shot in another night of violence
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 19, 2014 4:08 AM CDT
Updated Aug 19, 2014 7:58 AM CDT
Holocaust Survivor Arrested During Ferguson Protest
Rapper Nelly, center, walks the streets with protesters in Ferguson yesterday.   (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

No peace in weary Ferguson: At least two people were shot and 31 arrested during late-night protests, according to police, who say no officers were involved in the shootings and some of those arrested came from as far away as New York and California. Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson says his officers "came under heavy fire" but did not fire a shot in response, although tear gas was used to disperse protesters, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The National Guard has been deployed to assist police, although troops were not involved in last night's events, and Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to visit the city this week. More:

  • Johnson urged protesters to demonstrate in the daytime to prevent "a tiny minority" from causing violence at night, the BBC reports. "Anyone who has been at these protests understands that there is a dangerous dynamic in the night: It allows a small number of violent agitators to hide in the crowd and then attempt to create chaos," he said.

  • A Getty photographer and two German reporters were arrested while covering last night's demonstrations, the AP reports. Die Welt says the two reporters allegedly refused to follow orders to vacate a street, but they insist they obeyed police orders. All three were later released.
  • Rowdy demonstrators were greatly outnumbered by peaceful protesters, some of whom tried to deal with people who were hurling bottles and other missiles at police, CNN reports. "We are not going to let outside provocateurs to come here. We can't allow this movement to be destroyed," the national president of Black Lawyers for Justice tells the network.
  • Earlier yesterday, 90-year-old Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, a political activist and St. Louis resident, was one of nine protesters arrested for blocking the entrance to a building where Gov. Jay Nixon has offices. "I've been doing this since I was a teenager. I didn't think I would have to do it when I was 90," she told the Nation. "We need to stand up today so that people won't have to do this when they’re 90." She was among a group of more than 100 protesters calling for the arrest of the officer who shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown and the removal of the National Guard from the situation.
(More Ferguson, Missouri stories.)

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