Law-enforcement agencies and protesters in Ferguson, Mo., are already facing off, leading to six arrests overnight after six individuals reportedly tried to block off a street while demanding that police Officer Darren Wilson be indicted for the shooting death of unarmed teen Michael Brown on Aug. 9, Reuters reports.
Dozens of protesters assembled outside the city’s police station late Wednesday night, with some of them, the news wire notes, chanting, “Indict that cop.” According to Reuters, protesters were met by officers in riot gear, who made the first protest-related arrests this week as tensions in Ferguson continue to rise.
A grand jury decision in Wilson’s case is expected any day, and anticipation has strained this St. Louis County municipality, which, like the nation as a whole, has been torn along lines of race on the case. On Monday Gov. Jay Nixon announced a 30-day state of emergency and activated the National Guard as a precaution, Ku Klux Klan leaders have reportedly handed out fliers threatening demonstrators with “lethal force,” and gun stores in the area have reportedly seen a 700 percent spike in gun sales in recent days.
“These people are afraid,” Steve King, the owner of Metro Shooting Supplies, told the Washington Post. “One hundred percent of them are buying because of Ferguson.” The area storeowner told the newspaper that he usually sells only about 30 to 40 firearms in a week. This week alone, he said, he has sold 250.
Read more at Raw Story and the Washington Post.