National Guard soldiers yesterday began withdrawing from Ferguson, Missouri, five days after being sent to help quell the unrest that erupted after the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer.
But even as the guard packed up orange cones, pulled down yellow police tape and started to pull out, questions remained about the shooting itself and the way the authorities have handled it.
A grand jury continued to hear evidence about the altercation on August 9th between Brown (18) and police officer Darren Wilson on a quiet suburban street that ended with Mr Brown's being shot dead. However, it could take weeks before jurors reach a decision on possible charges against the officer.
Also underway is a parallel federal investigation into whether the Ferguson Police Department has engaged in civil rights abuses, which could be challenging to prove because of the nature of the episode and the strict standards of federal law.
The protests on the street have grown smaller and less confrontational over the past several days. On Thursday night, the formal protest ended before midnight and for the most part showed little hint of the tension of the past 13 days.
Police said that before Thursday night, 163 people had been arrested in the area where nightly protests had unfolded. Most of them, according to data released by St Louis County, are Missouri residents but just seven live in Ferguson.
Charges
Police cited 128 of them with failure to disperse, and another 21 people face burglary-related charges. On Thursday night, another seven people were taken into custody, including three people from Detroit, most of them for minor offences.
"It was a hot and muggy day, but the temperatures did not heat up on the streets of Ferguson," said Capt Ronald S Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri announced earlier on Thursday that the national guard, which was brought in to provide security for the police command centre, would be withdrawn. Members of the guard, some of them more than ready to go home, still stood at their posts on Thursday night.
On the street, the protesters who remained overnight – about 70 or so who marched in a familiar circuit up and down West Florissant Avenue – pledged to keep coming back.
“It can go on for another week or it can go on for two more months,” said Derrick D Robinson, a local member of the clergy. He attributed the smaller crowd partly to the police crackdown, and he said the peaceful nature of the protest came about through the efforts of local leaders.
Tear gas
The week did not get off to a promising start. The protests on Monday erupted in violent clashes in which police used tear gas and rubber bullets.
Tuesday was considerably calmer, though it was not without its moments of confrontation; at the end of the night, the police announced that 47 arrests had been made.
Wednesday night was the quietest night since the protests began, though some wondered if that had been because of a thunderstorm that had swept through. But Thursday night seemed to show that calm had settled in. – (New York Times service)