Rumors fed unrest following St. Louis police shooting: alderman
By Carey Gillam (Reuters) - Rumors that a black teenager killed by St. Louis police searching a house was only 13 years old helped stoke unrest on Wednesday and some angry citizens could be "looking for a battle," a city alderman said on Thursday. The teenager, Mansur Ball-Bey, was actually 18, and police said he pointed a gun at them before they opened fire, hitting him four times and killing him. Police said they were carrying out a warranted search in a house in a neighborhood known for illegal drug dealing when Ball-Bey and another young African-American man ran out of the back of the house. "There was a lot of misinformation out there. Many (people) arrived angry because they heard a 13-year-old kid was killed," said St. Louis Alderman Antonio French, who has been a prominent voice in the community since police in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson killed an unarmed black teenager last year, sparking months of sometimes violent protests. French said it was hard to predict if protesters would take to the streets again Thursday night. Small groups typically stage at least small peaceful demonstrations nightly in Ferguson. But there are others who are not part of organized groups who can be unpredictable, he said. "It's hard to say right now about what the mood is," French said. "There are some folks who are angry... just looking for a battle." Some protesters expressed doubt over the police account of Ball-Bey pointing a gun at them. St. Louis police are not equipped with body cameras but some officers videotaped the protests, during which shots were heard, according to Police Chief Sam Dotson. Dotson said additional "resources" would be deployed Thursday in case of renewed unrest. The St. Louis area has been on edge since a white police officer in the mostly black Ferguson community shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9, 2014. Brown's death was one of a series of police killings of unarmed black men and teens across the United States that sparked a newly energized civil-rights movement under the banner "Black Lives Matter". Ferguson and St. Louis County police came under heavy criticism for their handling of those protests, which included deployment of officers in riot gear and the use of tear gas and heavy armored vehicles, tactics many in the community said only inflamed the situation. Images of heavily armed police training weapons on citizens prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to place new restrictions on the use of military equipment by police. St. Louis police turned out in riot gear and used tear gas on the crowd Wednesday, but Dotson said that was after protesters threw bricks and bottles at officers. Dotson said a car was set on fire and some businesses reported robbery attempts in the melee. Nine people were arrested on charges of impeding traffic and resisting arrest, police said. (Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston and Carey Gillam in Kansas City; Editing by Lisa Lambert and James Dalgleish)
