Emergency ahead of Ferguson verdict

‘Regardless of the outcome, there is a possibility of expanded unrest’

The Governor of Missouri has declared a state of emergency ahead of a grand jury verdict on whether a police officer would be charged in the fatal shooting of unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown on August 9 in Ferguson, an event that sparked off one of the worst racial tensions in the town’s recent history and prompted a heavy crackdown by armed police.

Activating the National Guard as part of the emergency, Governor Jay Nixon said in an executive order on Monday: “Regardless of the outcomes of the federal and state criminal investigations, there is the possibility of expanded unrest.” “The state of Missouri will be prepared to appropriately respond to any reaction to these announcements,” he added.

The State administration has faced criticism from protesters and civil liberties groups across the nation since August after it adopted what appeared to be strong-arm tactics to quell the largely peaceful protests that engulfed the town, all aimed at holding accountable the police officer and the force for the killing of Mr. Brown.

At the time U.S. President Barack Obama appealed for calm in Ferguson, calling on local police to be “open and transparent,” and that there was “no excuse for police to use excessive force against peaceful protests, or to throw protesters in jail for lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights.”

Yet this week the pre-emptive announcement of the emergency appeared to stoke controversy once again.

William Brooks, President of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, called the activation of the National Guard “premature in its application and presumptuous to the hundreds of peaceful demonstrators who have embraced their Constitutional right to protest.” He added that the decision threatened to “stir up tensions and denigrate the peaceful efforts of countless non-violent activists.”

However Francis Slay, Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, said the deployment of the Guard was intended as a “visible signal of support, not as front-line law enforcement agents.” “My biggest concern is people are safe and the protesters are given their right to express themselves peacefully," he said following the announcement, adding, “We do everything we can to keep people safe, keep property safe and allow people to express their opinions.”