Missouri's governor moved to ease tensions on Thursday after days of racially charged protests over the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager, putting the African-American captain of the Highway Patrol in charge of security in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, according to The Associated Press.
Captain Ron Johnson, who grew up in Ferguson, told reporters he would take a "different approach" to policing after complaints that officers used heavy-handed tactics, arresting dozens of protesters and using teargas and pepper pellets to break up crowds, the AP reported.
Protesters filled the streets for a fifth night on Thursday in the mostly black suburb of Ferguson and also assembled in other U.S. cities following the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown last weekend, according to the AP. In sharp contrast to Wednesday night's heavy deployment by riot police, Captain Johnson and a handful of African-American officers without body armor walked among the crowd.
Thousands of demonstrators, including more white protesters than on previous evenings, gathered late into the night near the site of Saturday's shooting, the AP reported.
"It's because of this young man right here," Captain Johnson told a CNN reporter, holding up a picture of Brown to shouts of approval from protesters around him, according to the AP. "It's about the justice for everyone."
The protests have cast a spotlight on racial tensions in greater St. Louis, where civil rights groups have complained in the past that police racially profiled blacks, arrested a disproportionate number of blacks and had racist hiring practices, the AP reported.
Seeking to defuse the situation earlier on Thursday, President Barack Obama had called on police to respect peaceful demonstrations, according to the AP. Police have pledged to do better but have also justified the tough tactics, saying they have responded to the threat of violence during protests.
