Governor orders withdrawal of Missouri National Guard from Ferguson
FERGUSON, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon is ordering the Missouri National Guard to begin withdrawing from Ferguson, where nightly scenes of unrest have erupted since a white police officer fatally shot an unarmed black 18-year-old.
Nixon announced what he called a systematic withdrawal of Guard officers on Thursday. He says they've effectively protected the city while other agencies worked to restore trust between law enforcement and residents.
Since the guard's arrival Monday, flare-ups in the small section of town that had been the center of nightly unrest have begun to subside. The quietest night was overnight Wednesday and Thursday, when police arrested only a handful of people in the protest zone.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who has been in charge of security in Ferguson for nearly a week, told reporters early Thursday there were six arrests, compared to 47 the previous night, and called it "a very good night."
"Tonight, the radios were mostly quiet," Johnson said. "There were no Molotov cocktails, no fires, no shootings. Tonight, we deployed no smoke, no tear gas, and no mace."
At one point, reports CBS St. Louis affiliate KMOV-TV, two people demonstrating in support of Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown, were removed from a crowd of protesters
Since demonstrations began after Aug. 9 shooting of Michel Brown, authorities have arrested at least 163 people in the protest area. The majority of those arrested are Missourians but just seven live in the St. Louis suburb where the shooting occurred, authorities said Thursday.
According to a new CBS poll, fewer than half of Americans are satisfied with President Obama's response to the situation in Ferguson, but assessments are more positive than negative.
Forty-one percent of Americans are satisfied with how the president is responding to the unrest in Ferguson, while 34 percent are dissatisfied. Twenty-five percent don't have an opinion.
African-Americans, who have been strong supporters of Mr. Obama, are satisfied with his response (60 percent), compared to just 35 percent of whites. Partisanship also plays a role: Republicans are more critical of the president than Democrats.