In Tense Ferguson, Mo., 2 Reporters Caught In Arrests

By Chris Hopkins / NPR

Published August 13, 2014 at 4:05 PM PDT

This story was published more than 10 years ago.

A Demonstrator protesting the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown holds up a sign Wednesday in Ferguson, Missouri.

A police officer watches over demonstrators protesting the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown on Wednesday in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer on Saturday. Ferguson, a suburb north of St. Louis, has experienced three days of violent protests since the killing.

When SWAT officers gathered up everyone at a McDonald's restaurant on Wednesday night, they arrested not just locals, but reporters for The Washington Post and The Huffington Post, The Associated Press reports.

Both reporters later were released without being charged.

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The Associated Press said Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson didn't respond to a request for comment, but Los Angeles Times reporter Matthew Pearce said that, when reached, Jackson reacted with shock about the situation, and a few minutes later told him he'd ordered the reporters' release.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the arrests followed another tense day of protests.

A march down West Florissant Avenue from Chambers Road ended at the corner of Canfield Drive, not far from where Michael Brown was shot.A crowd of about 100 people congregated at the corner. They were surrounded on three sides by police who were keeping their distance.Many were calmly repeating the now-familiar chant, "No justice, no peace."Among them, a group of about seven young men were angrily yelling and demanding that police officials release the name of the police officer who shot Michael Brown.Later three armored vehicles approached the crowd, which had been largely quiet and peaceful. Some members of the crowd grew agitated.One of the armored trucks had a St. Louis County police officer on top of it with a long rifle on a tripod.The two other trucks arrived with about 6 officers in military fatigues hanging off the sides of both armored vehicles. The officers got off the trucks and were on the street. They appeared to be carrying rifles.A police official said they brought in the armored vehicles because the crowd was supposed to disperse at 5:30 p.m. to open up the road to traffic.