Rioting broke out in Ferguson Monday night following the announcement that Officer Darren Wilson would face no charges in the August shooting of Michael Brown.
The grand jury decided “no probable cause exists” to bring any charges against Officer Wilson, St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch said when announcing the St. Louis County grand jury’s findings.
Hundreds of people had assembled outside of the police station in Ferguson, where news reporters on the ground reported that protesters were throwing rocks and bottles at police officers, with at least three police cars vandalized and reports of gunfire.
Shortly after 10 p.m. EST, police over a loudspeakers told protesters outside of the police station and on Florissant Street in Ferguson that they were assembling unlawfully and asked them to disperse.
By 10:20 p.m. EST, tear gas had been fired into the crowd and armed officers had been dispersed, according to news reports, though some protesters were lobbing gas cans back at police.
“We need to invest in better tear gas masks, Anderson,” CNN’s Jake Tapper reporting from Ferguson told host Anderson Cooper Monday night.
PHOTOS: Stunning scenes of violence in Ferguson
There were also reports smashed store windows and looting, with protesters targeting the convenience store where video feed released by police showed Brown taking several packages of cigarillos without paying for them, shortly before he was shot by Officer Wilson.
There were several active fires in downtown Ferguson, and “return of small arms fire, probably handguns,” according to CNN’s Chris Cuomo, though no injuries have been reported.
A woman named Angel told Mr. Tapper that police had tear gassed a girl, causing a heart attack.
“We tired of this. Y’all should’ve seen this coming,” Angel said.
Police opened their line to take the passed out woman, likely for medial attending, according to news reports.
Mr. Tapper also reported that some people were urging their fellow protestors to stop throwing things at police and looting and vandalizing, encouraging peaceful protests.
CNN’s Don Lemon was reporting from the think of the protests, noting the heavy smoke and tear gas police were using to disperse the crowd.
“The smoke was so thick we could barely move. This seems to be reminiscent of August, but this is more severe,” Mr. Lemon said.
A Fox News reporter Steve Harrigan said his camera was smashed by looters who attacked his crew. The reporter and cameraman were both uninjured.
“The camera operator is fine. We were just attacked by a couple of guys angry about being photographed … we were photographing looting,” Mr. Harrigan said.
Mr. Harrigan was using an iPhone to film the looting of a beauty supply store, which was set ablaze.
“There seemed to be a lot of joy and excitement” among the looters.
Earlier in the evening, Gov. Jay Nixon at a press conference urged peace no matter the findings of the grand jury.
“Our shared hope and expatiation is that people on all sides show tolerance, mutual respect and restraint,” Mr. Nixon said.
• Jennifer Pompi can be reached at jpompi@washingtontimes.com.
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