Ferguson activists press ahead, undeterred by latest shooting
By Nick Carey FERGUSON, Mo. (Reuters) - As the hunt for suspects in the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, extended into a third day, activists took the first steps on Saturday to force the mayor out of office while residents awaited signs of progress in the investigation. A group called Organization for Black Struggle (OBS) said it was launching a petition drive to recall Mayor James Knowles, one of the few senior city officials still on the job after the police chief, a municipal judge and others resigned in recent days. An uneasy quiet prevailed in the St. Louis suburb on Saturday, in contrast with the mayhem that erupted near midnight on Thursday when gunshot rang out during a protest rally, wounding a pair of officers on a security detail. The shooting sent a fresh jolt of tension through a city that has become a symbol of racial conflict since a black teenager was killed by a white police officer last summer and a grand jury returned no criminal charges. "There has been a lot of outrage here over the past seven months," Montague Simmons, executive director of OBS, explaining why activists were determined to press ahead with their demands. "We feel this could be a moment of transformation where people go from being outraged to being involved." Antonio French, an alderman in nearby St. Louis, said the investigation would not distract from the issues exposed by a U.S. Justice Department report released this week depicting a Ferguson police force mired in racial bias. "What we've seen is that people are staying focused on trying to repair the system of injustice that was described in the Department of Justice report," French told CNN. "Folks that were responsible for the culture that was described in the DoJ report, that allowed that culture to fester, they need to go," French said. Knowles, a Republican who was 31 years when he was first elected in 2011 in a non-partisan election, said on Friday that it would be up to voters to remove him from the part-time job. Residents will have 60 days to gather signatures from 15 percent of registered voters in the last mayoral election to prompt a special election, OBS said in the statement. Simmons acknowledged that low turnout for municipal elections in Ferguson complicated the effort to push Knowles out, but he said recent events could help galvanize support for the drive. Still, some Ferguson residents said they were growing weary, especially after the latest spasm of violence, despite sympathy for protesters who have been out in force since the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in August. "It's been emotional here. We all want justice for Mike Brown, but we also have to heal," said Jerome Parker, 26, who lives in the area and works in a store. "I support the protests, but I need to make a living." Parker also worries about the impact the shooting of the officers will have on the push for reforms in Ferguson. "Whoever shot those cops was not one of the protesters, but I'm afraid people will think they were. If people think we're violent, what does that do to our message?" But authorities on Saturday had nothing new to add to the scant information already disclosed about the manhunt for suspects. A day earlier, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said investigators had dozens of leads and authorities had "a pretty good idea" where the gunshots had originated, but said no arrests were imminent. He had nothing to say about the kind of gun used, the shooter's motivation and any connection to the protesters. In Thursday's shooting, a 41-year-old county police officer suffered a shoulder wound and a 32-year-old colleague from a nearby police department sustained a facial wound that left a bullet lodged near his ear. Both were treated and released by a local hospital. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ TIMELINE-Recent events in protests, policing in United States Renewed violence threatens fragile recovery in Missouri city ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis, Fiona Ortiz in Chicago; Writing by Mary Milliken and Frank McGurty; Editing by Paul Simao and Marguerita Choy)
