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03/28/2024 09:31:21 am

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Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon Issues State Of Emergency Ahead Of Ferguson Grand Jury Decision

FBI Steps In To Investigate The Death Of 18 Year Old Michael Brown Gunned Down By The Police

The FBI has stepped in to investigate the death of Michael Brown who was gunned down by the police

The state government of Missouri anticipates more violent protests if the grand jury that investigated the death of black youth Michael Brown would not recommend charges to be filed against white officer Darren Wilson.

Ahead of the grand jury's decision, expected to be released in the middle of November, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared on Monday a state of emergency, reports Fox News. The declaration allows him to deploy the National Guards ahead of the decision to thwart violence and bloodshed.

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The governor was quoted last week as saying, "This is America. People have the right to express views and grievance, but they do not have the right to put fellow citizens and property at risk." He stressed that violence would never be tolerated in Missouri.

On Sunday, hundreds of residents blocked a vital intersection in St. Louis to mark the 100 days death of Brown. Some of the protesters laid down on the street near a cinema which was hosting a film festival.

DeRay McKesson, the protest leader, said the Sunday protest was a different from those held in August right after the Ferguson shootout because the action then was a result of justifiable anger. A grand jury decision not to charge the cop would appear as injustice to many Missouri residents, he hinted.

Such a decision, even if expected by many people, would still upset various communities, said Jose Chavez, leader of the Latinos en Axion community.

The FBI, meanwhile, issued a bulletin warning law enforcement agencies of attacks on cops and federal agents if the grant jury's decision would not recommend laying of charges against Wilson. It said the attackers would likely bear bladed weapons or firearms as well as protective equipment such as gas masks and bulletproof vests to counter the force coming from law enforcement agents.

According to Washington Post, Ku Klux Klan leaders are giving our fliers in Ferguson, while sales of guns have zoomed and commercial establishments boarded their stores to protect it from looters and trouble makers.

The governor's move has angered protest leaders and some black Missouri elected officials. One of them, Antonio French, an alderman from St. Louis, tweeted, "The National Guard is called in when policing has failed ... [a] military presence in my city will mark a historic failure on the part of the [government]."

Ferguson's police department will not participate in policing any protests, while Nixon ordered law enforcers to follow the unified command of the city, county and state highway patrol officials if there would be violence in St. Louis.

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