On Sunday evening, crowds gathered again. Capt. Ronald Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol said the evening began with peaceful protests that “took a very different turn after dark” as police deployed tear gas when protesters threw molotov cocktails and gunshots were fired at officers. Two people were injured in shootings, he said, but no officers were hurt. He said seven or eight people were arrested.
In a news conference about 1:20 a.m., Johnson said unrest began at 8:25 p.m. when police responded to reports of gunshots near Canfield, the street where Brown was killed. At 8:56 p.m., hundreds of protesters marched toward a police staging command post in a parking lot near a Target.
“There were multiple additional reports of molotov cocktails being thrown, police were shot at, makeshift barricades were set up to block police, bottles and rockets were thrown at police,” Johnson said. “Based on these conditions, I had no alternative but to elevate the level of our response.”
Johnson responded to critics of the curfew, saying: “This incident began at 8:30, three-and-a-half hours before the curfew.”
An hour after curfew, the streets were quieting down. But in an announcement issued early Monday, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) ordered the National Guard to Ferguson to help restore “peace and order to this community.”
In Ferguson, peace and order have been in short supply.
Earlier Sunday evening, police said protesters fired at least 30 gunshots and threw molotov cocktails at officers. Police blocked off Ferguson’s main avenue, and hundreds of officers in riot gear advanced on the crowd and began firing tear gas. Some of the demonstrators, covering their faces with scarves and napkins, tossed the tear gas canisters back at police, who included officers from the city of St. Louis, the county and the State Highway Patrol. Protesters began looting Papa John’s and Imo’s pizzerias.