Protests quickly grew violent Monday night in Ferguson, Missouri after a grand jury decided not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Shots have been fired, looting has been reported and at least one police cruiser was set on fire.
Protesters threw rocks, bottles, batteries and even allegedly a molotov cocktail at the police. A group of protesters could be seen waiting outside the Ferguson police station for the decision to come down, as officers in riot gear stood watch in the area.
The grand jury’s decision was announced at 9 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. local time in Missouri. Shortly after the announcement, President Barack Obama held a news conference from the White House, carried nationwide across most networks.
During his address, the President called for peaceful protests. “We are a nation built on the rule of law,” he said. “So we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury’s to make.”
Police aren’t the only ones getting struck by the civil unrest. The St. Louis County Police Department tweeted a photo of a man with a bloody face with the caption, “Peaceful protestor hit in the face with a piece of concrete.”
Meanwhile, the situation in St. Louis continued to escalate Monday night. By 11 p.m. local time in St. Louis, protesters had completely blocked I-44, a major highway running through St. Louis City and County. Additionally, there were multiple reports of various businesses on fire, including a Little Caesar’s restaurant, Sams Meat Market and a storage facility. Video carried live on CNN also showed a store being looted.