What I Saw in Ferguson →
Late in the afternoon on Wednesday, the armored vehicles rolled into place just beyond the charred shell of the QuikTrip gas station that was burned on the first night of protests. Police, some outfitted in riot gear, others in military fatigues, barricaded the streets. At least one of them draped a black bandana over his face; others covered their badges. Two hundred feet away, a local church group blared gospel music from a sound truck, hoping to quell tensions. Half a dozen students performed a dance routine punctuated by calls for justice in the Brown case. Near the front, a handful of young men jeered the police officers. One woman with an infant in a stroller walked up to the police barricade and screamed her contempt. A few people held signs comparing Ferguson to Gaza.