Tear gas is being fired in an American city and Maddow and Fox are covering immigration and CNN is doing Robin Williams #mediafail
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) August 14, 2014
According to the Associated Press as told to them by Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post and Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post, they were working inside a fast-food restaurant when Special Forces entered the premises and started clearing them out. Reilly reportedly tried to take a photo but police demanded for him to give his ID, which he lawfully declined to provide.
The officers hence detained him and according to an official statement from the Huffington Post the denention was "for not packing up fast enough." According to RT, a journalist from Al Jazeera was also attacked and teargassed when he tried to film the Ferguson Missouri protests.
Top: Baghdad, Iraq - Bottom: #Ferguson, Missouri. pic.twitter.com/eEwWFnxq5G — αηιs (@theblogpirate) August 14, 2014
Police militarization is now a press freedom issue. HuffPost statement on the arrest of their reporter in #Ferguson: pic.twitter.com/bLWf26oKxM — Freedom of the Press (@FreedomofPress) August 14, 2014
A citizen journalist known as Antonio French was also jailed for 24 hours, charged with unlawful assembly.
We were told to leave or we would be arrested. #Ferguson #MikeBrown I have never had a gun pointed at me. Let alone from a police officer. — Bridjes O'Neil (@BridjesONeil) August 14, 2014
Witnesses said Ferguson Missouri protesters outside the local police department demanded his release, but five of them were arrested as well.
Update about five protestors were just arrested outside the #Ferguson Police Station for refusing to leave. pic.twitter.com/vsl02oT7M7 — Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) August 14, 2014
Protestors outside the jail demanding @AntonioFrench release #Ferguson https://t.co/XeKBgdpaLJ — Toray (@IAm_Tori_) August 14, 2014
St. Louis alderman/citizen journo @AntonioFrench charged w/unlawful assembly & will be jailed for 24 hrs, per @KMOV: https://t.co/G7bupVEv7s
— Neetzan Zimmerman (@neetzan) August 14, 2014
Meanwhile, Jay Nixon, Missouri's governor urged law enforcement to respect residents and journalists' rights, apparently to no avail.
Closely monitoring situation & will be in North STL Co tomorrow. Ask for calm & urge law enforcement to respect rights of residents & press — Governor Jay Nixon (@GovJayNixon) August 14, 2014
By Thursday, the AP reports that the Ferguson Missouri protests reportedly just turned more violent after police used smoke bombs and tear gas on the demonstrators. The protesters on the other hand, fought back by throwing Molotov cocktails and other objects at police.
@YourAnonNews Ready to start a protest in NYC #Ferguson please RT! Anyone in the NYC or tristate area who can get here tonite lmk — Liam Weckerle (@liam_CK_OG) August 14, 2014
On Sunday, police said their helicopter was shot at multiple times. According to Time, the St. Louis County Police Department therefore requested a no-fly zone over Ferguson Missouri on Tuesday, to which the Federal Aviation Administration complied.
According to the department as told to TIME, they have asked flight restriction from the FAA since one of their helicopters was fired upon "multiple times" during the Ferguson Missouri on Sunday.
Flights over the Ferguson area which are below 3,000 feet will now only be allowed to first responders, including medical and police helicopters. The restriction will reportedly be in place until Aug. 18.
Though it is normal for local police departments to request flight restrictions during times like these with civil unrest, the restriction may reportedly make it more difficult for news media to get aerial footage of the town.
On another note, the police is still not disclosing any details of the police officer who shot Brown. According to CNN, it was because they feared retribution from an angry public.
Indeed, because of their refusal, online hacking group "Anonymous" has found a way to release the name of the officer they believe shot and killed the unarmed Brown in Ferguson Missouri over the weekend.
However, the police said the group released the name of the wrong guy.
CNN has not disclosed the man's name from "Anonymous" since in the past, "Anonymous" hackers have reportedly released unreliable data.
Ferguson Missouri battle continues even in the digital world. "Anonymous" warns police that if they continue to withhold information of the officer, they will release officer's home addresses and other personal details during the day.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader