Apparently, the peaceful vigil has turned into a riot situation...
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — A few thousand people crammed a suburban St. Louis street Sunday night at a vigil for an unarmed black man shot and killed by a police officer, while afterward several car windows were smashed and stores were looted as people carried away armloads of goods.
The candlelight gathering was for 18-year-old Michael Brown, who police said was shot multiple times Saturday after a scuffle involving the officer and two people in Ferguson, a predominantly black suburb of the city.
At the vigil, people placed candles, flowers and a teddy bear at the location where Brown was killed. One group broke off to spray paint "R.I.P. Michael" on the street.
Afterward, an Associated Press reporter saw some people looting a convenience store. Several other stores along a main road near the shooting scene were broken into and looted, including a check-cashing store, a boutique and a small grocery store.
People were seen carrying armloads of goods such as bags of food and toilet paper. TV footage showed streams of people walking out of a liquor store carrying bottles of alcohol, and in some cases protesters were standing atop police cars or taunting officers who stood stoic, often in riot gear.
Other witnesses reported seeing people vandalize police cars and kick in windows. Television footage showed windows busted out of a TV station van.
"Right now, the small group of people are creating a huge mess," Ferguson's mayor, James Knowles, told St. Louis KTVI-TV. "Contributing to the unrest that is going on is not going to help. ... We're only hurting ourselves, only hurting our community, hurting our neighbors. There's nothing productive from this."......
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