LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
• Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon lifted a curfew in Ferguson, Mo., but sent the National Guard there to help maintain order.
• President Barack Obama said he believed the violence in Ferguson, which flared again Sunday and early Monday, was the work of a relatively small group, but noted what he said was longstanding mistrust between police and residents many in communities.
• Attorney General Eric Holder plans to travel to Ferguson on Wednesday to talk to authorities conducting a federal investigation of the police shooting of Michael Brown.
• A forensic pathologist who assisted in a private autopsy of Brown requested by his parents said there were indications the 18-year-old may have had his hands up or his back turned when he was shot. But he said no definitive ruling could be made without more evidence.
— From news services
An unarmed 18-year-old whose fatal shooting by police has sparked a week of protests in suburban St. Louis suffered a bullet wound to his right arm that may indicate his hands were up or his back was turned, a pathologist hired by his family said Monday.
But the pathologist said the team that examined Michael Brown cannot be sure yet exactly how the wounds were inflicted, citing the need for more information. Also, the Washington Post reported that the official St. Louis County autopsy showed Brown had been shot from the front, and that he had marijuana in his system when he died. It quoted what it said were people familiar with the autopsy who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The independent autopsy determined that Michael Brown was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, the family’s lawyers and hired pathologists said. Witnesses have said Brown’s hands were above his head when he was repeatedly shot by an officer Aug. 9 in Ferguson.
A third, federal autopsy was performed Monday by a top military medical examiner, but the findings were not immediately released.
The Post said St. Louis County chief medical examiner Mary Case declined to talk about her autopsy, but said she welcomed the additional autopsies. Family attorney Benjamin Crump said Brown’s parents wanted the additional autopsy because they feared results of the county’s examination could be biased.
The reports came after another night of violence in Ferguson, where law enforcement officers early Monday fired tear gas at protesters as they sought to enforce a midnight curfew imposed by Gov. Jay Nixon. Nixon, who has declared a state of emergency, lifted the curfew later Monday, but ordered the National Guard deployed to Ferguson.
In Washington, President Barack Obama — pausing his summer vacation to return to the White House — said the vast majority of protesters in Ferguson were peaceful, but warned that a small minority was undermining justice.
Obama said overcoming the mistrust endemic between many communities and their local police would require Americans to “listen and not just shout.”
He also weighed in for the first time publicly on the militarization of some local police departments, saying it would probably be useful to examine how federal grant dollars had been used to allow local police departments, including Ferguson’s, to purchase military-style equipment.
Attorney General Eric Holder is scheduled to travel to Ferguson Wednesday to meet with FBI and other officials carrying out an independent federal investigation into Brown’s death. Obama said he told Nixon he wanted to ensure that use of the National Guard was limited in scope.
Forensic pathologist Shawn Parcells, who assisted former New York City chief medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden during the private autopsy, said a bullet grazed Brown’s right arm. He said the wound indicates Brown may have had his back to the shooter, or he could have been facing the shooter with his hands above his head or in a defensive position across his chest or face.
“We don’t know,” Parcells said. “We still have to look at the other (elements) of this investigation before we start piecing things together.”
Baden also said there was no gunpowder residue on Brown’s body, indicating he was not shot at close range. However, Baden said he did not have access to Brown’s clothing, and that it was possible the residue could be on the clothing.
Brown’s death has heightened racial tensions between the predominantly black community and Ferguson’s mostly white police department.
On Sunday and early Monday, police said there were signs of a planned and coordinated attempt to launch an advance on the police command post not far from the scene of Brown’s death.
Nixon, in a statement, said the National Guard’s “limited mission” will be to protect the command post so local law enforcement officials can protect peaceful demonstrators. He condemned “the firing upon law enforcement officers, the shooting of a civilian, the throwing of Molotov cocktails, looting and a coordinated attempt to overrun the unified Command Center.”
Authorities were also establishing a designated protest zone for nightly demonstrations. It was not clear what would happen to those who refuse to use the area along West Florissant Avenue, where the majority of protests have occurred.
A chief demand of the protesters has been that Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who shot Brown, be prosecuted for murder. A grand jury could begin hearing evidence Wednesday, said Ed Magee, spokesman for St. Louis County’s prosecuting attorney.
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