Saint Louis, Mo. — Gov. Jay Nixon announced a total of 2,200 National Guardsmen will be in the St. Louis region tonight, ratcheting up the military presence in Ferguson after last night’s protests resulted in the torching and looting of dozens of local businesses.
Protests were largely peaceful last night, but a small group of agitators appeared determined to foment unrest as hundreds took to the streets to protest a grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the killing of 18-year-old unarmed Michael Brown.
“Last night, criminals intent on lawlessness and destruction terrorized this community,” Nixon told reporters. “I am deeply saddened for the people of Ferguson.”
Nixon promised a much more visible presence of guardsmen, who were largely absent from crowd control duties last night. The National Guard was largely used to secure state and federal facilities to free local police to handle crowds, Nixon said.
The Democratic governor came under intense scrutiny last night and today when Ferguson Mayor James Knowles told reporters on local and national television that Nixon hadn’t responded to his pleas to send the National Guard into Ferguson as businesses began to burn. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder said that Knowles contacted him about dispensing the Guard when Nixon didn’t respond, but Kinder isn’t empowered to do so.
Nixon said the characterization wasn’t accurate, and that more than 700 Guardsmen had been in the region last night. But he also didn’t clearly respond to questions from reporters as to why the National Guard didn’t play a prominent role in protecting local facilities.
The tripling of the National Guard presence will be noticeable tonight, Nixon said. He didn’t not directly answer whether or not at least some of those Guard members would be infantry.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
