At Least Three Protesters Arrested in Ferguson Friday Night, Activist Groups and Local Authorities Aim to Keep Peace
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JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images(FERGUSON, Mo.) — At least three protesters were arrested in Ferguson on Friday night during demonstrations in advance of a possible grand jury decision related to the August shooting of Michael Brown by local police officer Darren Wilson.
According to the Saint Louis County Police Department, the three individuals were identified as Kenny Thomas, 55, David Rodriguez, 26, and William Morales, 23. Each of the three faces charges of unlawful assembly after they refused to leave the roadway when officers urged them to do so. The demonstrators, police say, were wearing “Anonymous” masks, and one of the demonstrators was using a bullhorn with a siren on it to shout profanities.
On Friday, state and local officials had announced an agreement with activist groups on how police should respond to protesters once they grand jury decision is made on whether or not to indict Wilson. The so-called “rules of engagement” aim to prevent the tensions and violence that boiled over during protests over the shooting earlier this year.
The grand jury will not meet this weekend, however, and will instead reconvene on Monday.
A U.S. delegation that reported to the United Nations Committee against Torture last week sent a letter to the U.N. on Friday calling for special rapporteurs to be sent to document possible human rights violations, should protests grow violent again.
Also on Friday evening, the American Civil Liberties Union announced that it had signed an agreement with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the County of Saint Louis and the City of Ferguson to affirm the rights of protesters to record law enforcement officers, an agreement that the ACLU of Missouri’s legal director Tony Rothers called protection of the First Amendment rights of journalists.
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