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Protests In Ferguson Last Night Damaged City Hall

by Alicia Lu

On Tuesday night, residents of Ferguson took to the streets for a second night of protests in response to the grand jury's decision not to indict Darren Wilson. Monday night's history-making unrest prompted Governor Jay Nixon to triple the number of National Guard troops in Ferguson, as a measure to mitigate and curb widespread violence on Tuesday. Compared to the first night, when more than 20 buildings were set ablaze and 61 people were arrested, the St. Louis County Police described the second night of Ferguson protests as "a much better night." Still, you wouldn't be able to tell from the images.

Emphasis should be put on "compared to the first night," because there was plenty of violent disorder during Tuesday night's second round of protests. According to St. Louis County police, at least 44 people were arrested, two Molotov cocktails and two guns were seized, windows were broken at City Hall, prompting tear gas to be employed, and at least one police car was flipped and set on fire.

Still, this was an improvement to the first night when widespread looting and arson devastated the St. Louis suburb. While a large portion of the 61 arrests made on Monday night were for felony charges, most of the arrests on Tuesday night were for misdemeanors. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told the Wall Street Journal:

I think generally it was a much better night. We saw some protestors out there that were really out there for the right reason.

But, as these images show, the chaos was far from completely over.

And that goes for other cities, too; protesters continued to gather across the U.S. to show their solidarity with the people of Ferguson.

In a scene that could almost rival Ferguson, thousands of protesters in New York City marched through Manhattan's busiest streets, blocking traffic as they expressed their anger over the grand jury's decision. NYC was just one of many outposts conveying Ferguson's message, as protests raged on from LA to Boston and Chicago on Tuesday night.