Nixon is getting tough on crime.
After a week of unrest in Ferguson, Gov. Jay Nixon this afternoon declared a state of emergency and ordered a curfew for the city.
The governor said the curfew will start tonight and be in effect from midnight until 5 a.m.
He said the target of the curfew is a small group of troublemakers who have turned to looting and violence.
“We cannot allow the ill will of the few to undermine the good will of the many,” Nixon said.
Nixon and Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald S. Johnson, who the governor put in charge of security in Ferguson earlier in the week, were interrupted often by angry residents at the press conference at which the curfew was announced.
Johnson repeatedly said his job was to maintain security and said the investigation into the incident that has sparked protests and looting in Ferguson is not part of his role.
Nixon and Johnson both repeated that justice could not be served in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown that has set off the fury if there is continued unrest.
Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, also spoke at the press conference, saying he tipped his hat to law enforcement in recent days for “toning it down, for pulling it back.”
Asked about last night’s violence that followed a day of peaceful protests, Johnson said he had ordered a stronger police presence after he was awakened and told that some of his officers were trapped at a parking lot.
As they left the stage, some in the audience at Greater St. Mark Family Church in Ferguson yelled “Don’t shoot,” the same thing that many protesters have been yelling at officers in the streets.