Even though he promised business owners they would be protected by the National Guard.
Since the night last November when rioting re-erupted in and around Ferguson, local leaders and business owners have complained that the Missouri National Guard and other police entities did nothing to stop the looting and burning that ensued.
Now, with new information indicating that lack of action was ordered from the top — and not just to preserve lives, but also to address the growing public image problem of militarized police — that local anger has flared anew.
“It’s disgusting. I’m beside myself,” said Kurt Barks, owner of Complete Auto Body & Repair on West Florissant Avenue in Dellwood. “I sat in a meeting the Thursday before this happened and was promised there would be National Guard on my property. I was even told (by police officials), ‘Don’t board it up.’”
His business later sustained about $40,000 worth of damage to an automobile showroom, including a vehicle that was flipped over. “I’m sorry, but we pay our taxes, and 75 percent of our business is gone.”[…]
For his part, Nixon forcefully defended Wednesday the choice to protect life rather than property.
“It was clearly not the best path forward to get into a gunfight on the street,” said Nixon. “… In the hierarchy of responsibilities, saving lives was first, behind it was saving property. (That) was the right way to come at that.”
The Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday that National Guard troops deployed to the Ferguson area Nov. 24, after a grand jury declined to issue an indictment in the killing of Michael Brown, weren’t authorized to shoot to protect property, make arrests or stop people from committing most crimes.
Nixon and others continue to defend that policy, saying they ordered restraint by police to avoid escalation and bloodshed.
But documents obtained by the newspaper indicate that there were also concerns about a growing national debate over police militarization and that officials were intent on keeping the guard units out of the public spotlight for that reason.[…]
“Those buildings and businesses will be rebuilt … but to say that that night we should have had a larger and broader gunfight? That would not have solved any problems,” Nixon told reporters Wednesday after an event at Roosevelt High School in St. Louis.
That rationale is of little comfort to business owners in the area, who believed that, after the destruction of the first round of riots in August, they had a promise from political and police officials that their businesses would be protected this time.
“The meetings we had with … police leaders, those meetings said the National Guard would be there and our businesses would be protected,” said Phil Hurlbut, owner of Dellwood Motor Mart on West Florissant. He said that message came from St. Louis County Police officials. His business was hit in both the August and November rounds of looting and sustained some $70,000 in damage and losses. “So yes, we are surprised.”
Through a spokesman, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar declined to comment.