By Heather Hollingsworth
Associated Press
FERGUSON, Mo. — A Ferguson, Missouri, police officer was critically injured outside the city’s police station during protests on the 10th anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.
Ferguson police chief Troy Doyle said Officer Travis Brown suffered a severe brain injury Friday after being knocked to the ground.
“He is in an area hospital right now fighting for his life,” Doyle said.
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“Some individuals would rather see our community divided and in turmoil than allow me to continue serving as sheriff,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell stated
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Two other officers also were hurt, one sustaining an ankle injury and another an abrasion. Both were treated at the scene.
The team of officers went out to make arrests Friday for destruction of property at the police station, where protesters gathered to remember Michael Brown.
One of the suspects was charged Saturday with assault of a special victim, resisting arrest and property damage. He was ordered held on $500,000 cash only bond. No information was immediately listed in online court records, so it wasn’t known if he had an attorney yet.
Doyle said that for the majority of the night, the protesters were peaceful. He said police allowed them to block the street outside the station, posting a squad car on each end, so they wouldn’t be hit by vehicles.
Police also didn’t intervene when the protesters began shaking the fence outside the station. But he said that when they broke a section of fencing, he sent out the arrest team. The suspect who charged at Travis Brown knocked him backward with his shoulder, and the officer hit his head as he tumbled to the ground, Doyle said.
Court records said the suspect then kept running and kicked two officers who tried to arrest him, leaving them with scratches and bruises.
Doyle said Travis Brown, who is Black, started with the department in January and previously worked for the St. Louis County Police Department.
“He wanted to be part of the change,” Doyle said. “He wanted to make an impact in our community. He’s the type of officer that we want in our community. And what happens? He gets assaulted. I had to look his mother in the eye and tell her what happened to her son. I’m never going to do that again, I promise you that.”
St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell, who had stopped by the hospital beforehand to meet with the officer’s family, said others also would be charged.
“I always talk about you know the toughest part of this job is when we have a family that’s lost a loved one that we can’t bring justice to. And I’ve got to tweak that. The toughest thing I’ve had to do is talk and console with a mother who doesn’t know if her child is doing to make it. And for what?”
