FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s governor is lifting a neighborhood curfew but calling in the National Guard to help restore order in a St. Louis suburb where a police officer’s fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old has sparked heated protests.
Gov. Jay Nixon called up the troops early Monday following an overnight clash between police and what he called “a violent criminal element intent upon terrorizing the community.”
The unrest follows the Aug. 9 death of Michael Brown, who was fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.
The neighborhood had been under a midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew since Saturday, but Nixon lifted the curfew Monday.
He says the National Guard will be under the direction of the Highway Patrol, which he put in charge of overseeing protests.
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