Racially charged protests flared overnight in Ferguson, Missouri, in an eruption of fresh anger over the fatal Aug. 9 shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a police officer. Tensions had temporarily cooled on Thursday night but by Friday evening, protesters were again swarming through a residential and retail district in the small town outside St. Louis that has become the site of repeated clashes between black residents and mostly white police forces. Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson, an African-American who was named by Governor Jay Nixon to lead security in the town on Thursday, said police fired a teargas canister at a crowd near a food and liquor store and broader violence and looting erupted. Some protesters threw bottles at riot gear-clad police who had ordered the crowd to disperse. Tensions have been high since police officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown, 18, shortly after noon last Saturday as Brown and a friend walked down a street that runs through an apartment complex where Brown's grandmother lives. Emotions ramped up again Friday when authorities finally gave in to days of pressure and released the name of the officer who shot Brown, but did so only after first saying that Brown was a suspect in the robbery of a convenience store at the time he was shot, a move that supporters of Brown's family called a "smear" campaign. Friday night's looting started at the store where Brown was accused of taking cigars, Johnson said. The move to name the dead teen as a robbery suspect while withholding photos and other information about the officer who shot him drew immediate ire. A vigil near the site of Brown's killing was set for Saturday morning. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson acknowledged in a news conference later on Friday that Wilson did not know Brown was a suspect in the robbery and that the shooting resulted from the officer's request for Brown to move out of the street. There was no connection between the shooting and the alleged robbery, Jackson said. Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Brown's family, said in a statement issued Friday that the family was "beyond outraged" at the police attempts to "assassinate the character of their son, following such a brutal assassination of his person in broad daylight." Civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton said he would lead a rally with Brown's family in Ferguson on Sunday. "There's nothing more contemptible and offensive to the people of this country than for law enforcement to try to smear a dead man or dead child that can't speak for themselves," Sharpton said on Saturday morning at a weekly rally he holds in New York City that is broadcast on the Internet. Other law enforcement agencies criticized the Ferguson police department for trying to make the alleged robbery an issue connected to the shooting and for releasing a video from inside the store that shows Brown violently shoving a store clerk before he walks out the door. "We had no involvement whatsoever in releasing that video," said Brian Schellman, a spokesman for the St. Louis County Police Department, which is leading the local investigation into the Brown shooting.Confusion over killing The police version of Brown's shooting differs markedly from witness accounts, including that of the friend who was walking with Brown at the time, Dorian Johnson, 22. In the police version, after Wilson asked Brown to move out of the road onto a sidewalk, Brown reached into the patrol car and struggled with Wilson for the officer's service gun. Wilson, who sustained a facial injury, then shot Brown a number of times. Johnson and at least one other witness have said that the officer reached out through his car window to grab at Brown and that the teenager was trying to get away from the officer when he was shot. Brown held up his hands in a sign of surrender but the officer got out of his patrol car and shot Brown several times, they said. Police have acknowledged that Brown's body was more than 30 feet away (9 meters) from the police car when he collapsed and died and that multiple shell casings were found at the scene.
More
Mobile users experience slower 5G speeds than expected in Ho Chi Minh City
They complained that while their smartphones displayed a 5G signal icon, the actual speeds were the same as or even worse than 4G
Read more
Elon Musk's election promise of $1 million daily giveaway sparks call for probe
Musk on Saturday gave a $1 million check to an attendee at the rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
1 day agoThree decades later, first brown dwarf ever found offers a surprise
Brown dwarfs are neither a star nor a planet, but something in between
2 days agoWorld Bank says 26 poorest nations in worst financial shape since 2006
The report finds that these economies are poorer today on average than they were on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic
1 week agoColombian coca leaf farming hit two-decade high in 2023, UN says
Colombian authorities have for decades fought to reduce drug trafficking, but the country remains one of the world's leading cocaine producers
2 days ago51-year-old Turkish shooter becomes viral star of 2024 Paris Olympics
Photos of him competing with minimal gear in the competition were widely shared
2 months agoLatest news
Man blocks on-duty ambulance in Ho Chi Minh City
The man's motives are unknown
Vietnam swears in new state president
Luong Cuong is the successor to Party General Secretary To Lam
Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News — October 22
Good morning from Vietnam!
Vietnam to amend national power plan to include nuclear energy
The PDP8 will be amended in a way to also add more renewables to the mix, including solar and wind
Int’l banks raise Vietnam’s GDP growth forecast for 2024
Vietnam's economic growth momentum is relatively strong, with improvements in many areas such as export and import, manufacturing, retail, real estate, and tourism
Mammoth project in Ho Chi Minh City’s Ben Thanh quadrangle transferred to Hanoi-based property firm
The 8,600-square-meter complex project intersects four main streets Pham Ngu Lao, Pho Duc Chinh, Le Thi Hong Gam, and Calmette
Ecotourism thrives with visitors seeking green activities in south-central Vietnam
Lodging facilities and businesses have also limited single-use plastic products
SE Asia’s largest hot-air balloon festival might kick off in Da Lat
If the festival proceeds, it will feature hot-air balloon performances, paid hot-air balloon rides, paragliding shows, and carnival street parades
Vietnam PM says aiming to lift 2024 growth above 7%
Vietnam's gross domestic product is expected to grow by 6.8%-7.0% this year, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told parliament on Monday
3 dead as overturned truck crushes motorbike in Vietnam
The truck crushed three people on a motorbike and killed them instantly