FERGUSON, Missouri — Ferguson business owners and residents spent Wednesday boarding up windows and clearing debris after two nights of unrest over the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case, even as protesters continued to hold scattered demonstrations in the area.
Several protesters managed to rush into St. Louis City Hall screaming “Shame, shame,” leading police to lock down the building and call in more than a hundred extra officers. Police arrested three people, including one on an assault charge.
The demonstrators were among a group of about 200 that marched through downtown St. Louis and held a mock trial of Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed the unarmed Brown during an Aug. 9 struggle in that St. Louis suburb.
In Ferguson, meanwhile, many residents eager to get back a sense of normalcy were hoping to replace the nighttime chaos and unrest since the Monday’s announcement of the grand jury decision with the relative calm the city has enjoyed during daylight hours. About a dozen people were painting over boarded-up windows on businesses in the suburb’s downtown on Wednesday, where National Guardsmen were stationed every few feet and some looked down from rooftops.
“This is my Ferguson, you know?” said Kari Hobbs, 28, as she watched 17-year-old Molly Rogers paint “Love will Win” on a board that covered a smashed window at Cathy’s Kitchen, a restaurant not far from the Ferguson Police Department.