'I Felt Disrespected': No Charges for Ferguson Residents Arrested in Raid
Exclusive: In early-morning swoop by heavily armed police, Lamont Underwood, Iresha Turner and Martez Little were taken from home in handcuffs, questioned and later released
Lamont Underwood: ‘I kept telling them I didn’t know anything about who shot the cop. Eventually they said they believed me.’
Jon Swaine in Ferguson and Paul Lewis in Washington
Friday 13 March 2015 09.17 EDT
Three people taken from their home in a dawn raid and questioned over the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, told the Guardian on Thursday that they were released without being charged.
Lamont Underwood, Iresha Turner and Martez Little said they were the trio seen handcuffed by St Louis County officers and taken from a house on Dade Avenue as part of the early-morning swoop by heavily armed police.
Turner said that she and her six-year-old son had the red laser sights of police rifles trained on their chests as they emerged into their garden under orders from the officers, who arrived in military-style vehicles.
Underwood and Turner said they had been milling around the demonstration outside the Ferguson police headquarters when shots rang out on Wednesday night. But they denied having anything to do with the shooting and said they came under suspicion after speeding away from the scene as many others did.
The release of the trio came as police confirmed they had yet to make any arrests in connection with an investigation into what they have described as an “ambush” outside Ferguson police station.
Experts have speculated that the distance the bullets were fired from - around 125 yards - suggests the responsible who shot the officers may be a trained or skilled user of firearms.
In Washington, the US attorney general, Eric Holder, who last week threatened to disband Ferguson’s police department after a damning report into discrimination by the force, called the attacks “disgusting and cowardly”.
“Seeing this attack last night really turned my stomach,” Holder said, adding that Ferguson police was on the verge of moving forward with reforms outlined in the report. “This was not someone trying to bring healing to Ferguson. This was a damn punk who was trying to sow discord.”
Holder said “the full range of investigative resources” at the Department of Justice and FBI would be made available to assist with the manhunt in Missouri.
The family of Michael Brown, the black man whose shooting by a Ferguson police officer in August last year sparked protests that have since snowballed nationwide, forcefully condemned the attack.
“We reject any kind of violence directed toward members of law enforcement. It cannot and will not be tolerated,” the family said in a statement. “We specifically denounce the actions of stand-alone agitators who unsuccessfully attempt to derail the otherwise peaceful and non-violent movement that has emerged throughout this nation to confront police brutality and to forward the cause of equality under the law for all.”
Earlier Thursday, the St Louis County police chief, Jon Belmar, told reporters that those responsible for the attack might have been associated with protesters outside a police station, pointing out the shots were fired in the broad vicinity of demonstrations.
Shortly afterwards, pictures emerged showing police breaking into the attic of a residential home in Ferguson via a rooftop. The three residents of that house described to the Guardian hours later how they had been handcuffed by St Louis County officers and taken from their home on Dade Avenue after a dawn swoop by heavily armed police.
Police took away a pistol that Turner told them they kept in the attic in case it was needed for self-defence, she told the Guardian. “It was not to be used, not to hurt anyone,” she said. “It was for protection.”
“I feel disrespected,” said Underwood, 47. “I kept telling them I didn’t know anything about who shot the cop. Eventually they said they believed me. It was terrifying. It was disturbing. They had guns drawn and were yelling you’re the reason we are here. We need you. I kept telling them ‘I ain’t seen nothing. I ain’t see who shot the police. Period. I heard gunshots and people started running.”
Turner said: “It was 3am and we were lying in bed. Suddenly there’s banging at the door. We hear ‘it’s the police it’s the police we know you’re in there come out. I look outside and there are six or seven police they had a tank-style vehicle, a truck and a helicopter it was ridiculous.” We were forced outside. I looked down at my chest and there was a red dot on my chest. I said ‘I surrender, I surrender, please don’t shoot me. I said I’m not the shooter I’m not involved. They said we were acting shady but I said what would you do if 15 police were outside your door with guns. I’m a woman of faith.”
A spokesman for St Louis County police confirmed individuals that people brought into custody were released. “We can confirm that several people were questioned today. None are still in police custody and no arrests have been made.”
The attack on the officers took place around midnight on Wednesday as a small demonstration wound down in the St Louis suburb, which has been gripped by unrest since the fatal police shooting of Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, last year.
Police chief Belmar made clear he was not blaming demonstrators for an attack in which one officer was shot in the face and the other in the shoulder, both of whom he said were lucky to survive.
However, he repeatedly drew attention to the “agitated” and “rowdy” demonstration that had taken place on a road just in front of the Ferguson police department – about 125 yards from where police saw muzzle flashes from a suspected handgun or pistol.
“I would have to imagine that these protesters were among the shooters that shot at the police officers,” he said. Protesters have pushed back hard at any suggestions they were connected to the shooters and point out the shots appear to have been fired from a hill behind a dwindling group of demonstrators who were celebrating the resignation of Ferguson’s police chief, Thomas Jackson.
The protest had been dwindling in the lead-up to the shooting, at midnight, with only around 75 protesters mingling in the area in front of the police station. Police officers were stationed a line in front of the police station and, Belmar said, were sitting targets.
Belmar said one officer, from Webster Groves, a 32-year-old who has worked in the department for five years, was shot in the cheek and the bullet lodged just behind his ear. The St Louis County officer, who is 41 and a 17-year law enforcement veteran, was shot in the shoulder, he said. The bullet exited his back, near to his spine.
“We’re lucky by God’s grace we didn’t lose two officers last night,” Belmar said, comparing the incident to the shooting of NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos in December last year. “We could have buried two police officers next week over this.”
He said: “This is really an ambush. You can’t see it coming, you don’t understand that it’s going to happen, you’re basically defenceless.”
Belmar continued:“I do feel that there was an unfortunate association with that [protest] gathering.”
However, protesters stressed that the shots emanated from an area they were not demonstrating in. Tony Rice, a Ferguson resident and protester, said “the shots came from up Tiffin Avenue” – an upwards-sloping street directly opposite the police department. DeRay Mckesson, a prominent leader of the Ferguson protest movement, agreed that the shots were fired from “the alley or street” behind where protesters stood.
“I’m 100% sure on that,” Rice told the Guardian. “Clearly no one shot a gun close to me.”
Rice recalled in a telephone interview that he “heard gunshots go off, and felt a bullet whizz by my head”, prompting him to take cover from the direction of the shots by hiding behind a car, while facing the police line.
“I saw the officer who was shot in the face hit the ground,” said Rice. “He was hollering and moaning. Not saying words but just screaming. Other officers were jumping around him tending to him. Some were scrambling to get out of the way.”
It was unclear if there would be further protests in Ferguson on Thursday. However, from 6pm local time, the St Louis County police department and the Missouri state highway patrol were set to assume command of security around any demonstrations.
The arrangement has echoes of the change in protest policing arrangements in Ferguson introduced after violent clashes between demonstrators and police in August last year.
The shots were the first to strike law enforcement officers in the seven months since protests erupted following the shooting of Brown by Darren Wilson, a white officer. Gunfire was heard repeatedly during protests and rioting in August, when Brown was killed, and November, when prosecutors decided not to bring charges against Wilson.
“I think it is a miracle that we haven’t had any instances similar to this over the summer and fall, with the amount of gunfire we would hear,” Belmar said.
Lamont Underwood: ‘I kept telling them I didn’t know anything about who shot the cop. Eventually they said they believed me.’
Jon Swaine in Ferguson and Paul Lewis in Washington
Friday 13 March 2015 09.17 EDT
Three people taken from their home in a dawn raid and questioned over the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, told the Guardian on Thursday that they were released without being charged.
Lamont Underwood, Iresha Turner and Martez Little said they were the trio seen handcuffed by St Louis County officers and taken from a house on Dade Avenue as part of the early-morning swoop by heavily armed police.
Turner said that she and her six-year-old son had the red laser sights of police rifles trained on their chests as they emerged into their garden under orders from the officers, who arrived in military-style vehicles.
Underwood and Turner said they had been milling around the demonstration outside the Ferguson police headquarters when shots rang out on Wednesday night. But they denied having anything to do with the shooting and said they came under suspicion after speeding away from the scene as many others did.
The release of the trio came as police confirmed they had yet to make any arrests in connection with an investigation into what they have described as an “ambush” outside Ferguson police station.
Experts have speculated that the distance the bullets were fired from - around 125 yards - suggests the responsible who shot the officers may be a trained or skilled user of firearms.
In Washington, the US attorney general, Eric Holder, who last week threatened to disband Ferguson’s police department after a damning report into discrimination by the force, called the attacks “disgusting and cowardly”.
“Seeing this attack last night really turned my stomach,” Holder said, adding that Ferguson police was on the verge of moving forward with reforms outlined in the report. “This was not someone trying to bring healing to Ferguson. This was a damn punk who was trying to sow discord.”
Holder said “the full range of investigative resources” at the Department of Justice and FBI would be made available to assist with the manhunt in Missouri.
The family of Michael Brown, the black man whose shooting by a Ferguson police officer in August last year sparked protests that have since snowballed nationwide, forcefully condemned the attack.
“We reject any kind of violence directed toward members of law enforcement. It cannot and will not be tolerated,” the family said in a statement. “We specifically denounce the actions of stand-alone agitators who unsuccessfully attempt to derail the otherwise peaceful and non-violent movement that has emerged throughout this nation to confront police brutality and to forward the cause of equality under the law for all.”
Earlier Thursday, the St Louis County police chief, Jon Belmar, told reporters that those responsible for the attack might have been associated with protesters outside a police station, pointing out the shots were fired in the broad vicinity of demonstrations.
Shortly afterwards, pictures emerged showing police breaking into the attic of a residential home in Ferguson via a rooftop. The three residents of that house described to the Guardian hours later how they had been handcuffed by St Louis County officers and taken from their home on Dade Avenue after a dawn swoop by heavily armed police.
Police took away a pistol that Turner told them they kept in the attic in case it was needed for self-defence, she told the Guardian. “It was not to be used, not to hurt anyone,” she said. “It was for protection.”
“I feel disrespected,” said Underwood, 47. “I kept telling them I didn’t know anything about who shot the cop. Eventually they said they believed me. It was terrifying. It was disturbing. They had guns drawn and were yelling you’re the reason we are here. We need you. I kept telling them ‘I ain’t seen nothing. I ain’t see who shot the police. Period. I heard gunshots and people started running.”
Turner said: “It was 3am and we were lying in bed. Suddenly there’s banging at the door. We hear ‘it’s the police it’s the police we know you’re in there come out. I look outside and there are six or seven police they had a tank-style vehicle, a truck and a helicopter it was ridiculous.” We were forced outside. I looked down at my chest and there was a red dot on my chest. I said ‘I surrender, I surrender, please don’t shoot me. I said I’m not the shooter I’m not involved. They said we were acting shady but I said what would you do if 15 police were outside your door with guns. I’m a woman of faith.”
A spokesman for St Louis County police confirmed individuals that people brought into custody were released. “We can confirm that several people were questioned today. None are still in police custody and no arrests have been made.”
The attack on the officers took place around midnight on Wednesday as a small demonstration wound down in the St Louis suburb, which has been gripped by unrest since the fatal police shooting of Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, last year.
Police chief Belmar made clear he was not blaming demonstrators for an attack in which one officer was shot in the face and the other in the shoulder, both of whom he said were lucky to survive.
However, he repeatedly drew attention to the “agitated” and “rowdy” demonstration that had taken place on a road just in front of the Ferguson police department – about 125 yards from where police saw muzzle flashes from a suspected handgun or pistol.
“I would have to imagine that these protesters were among the shooters that shot at the police officers,” he said. Protesters have pushed back hard at any suggestions they were connected to the shooters and point out the shots appear to have been fired from a hill behind a dwindling group of demonstrators who were celebrating the resignation of Ferguson’s police chief, Thomas Jackson.
The protest had been dwindling in the lead-up to the shooting, at midnight, with only around 75 protesters mingling in the area in front of the police station. Police officers were stationed a line in front of the police station and, Belmar said, were sitting targets.
Belmar said one officer, from Webster Groves, a 32-year-old who has worked in the department for five years, was shot in the cheek and the bullet lodged just behind his ear. The St Louis County officer, who is 41 and a 17-year law enforcement veteran, was shot in the shoulder, he said. The bullet exited his back, near to his spine.
“We’re lucky by God’s grace we didn’t lose two officers last night,” Belmar said, comparing the incident to the shooting of NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos in December last year. “We could have buried two police officers next week over this.”
He said: “This is really an ambush. You can’t see it coming, you don’t understand that it’s going to happen, you’re basically defenceless.”
Belmar continued:“I do feel that there was an unfortunate association with that [protest] gathering.”
However, protesters stressed that the shots emanated from an area they were not demonstrating in. Tony Rice, a Ferguson resident and protester, said “the shots came from up Tiffin Avenue” – an upwards-sloping street directly opposite the police department. DeRay Mckesson, a prominent leader of the Ferguson protest movement, agreed that the shots were fired from “the alley or street” behind where protesters stood.
“I’m 100% sure on that,” Rice told the Guardian. “Clearly no one shot a gun close to me.”
Rice recalled in a telephone interview that he “heard gunshots go off, and felt a bullet whizz by my head”, prompting him to take cover from the direction of the shots by hiding behind a car, while facing the police line.
“I saw the officer who was shot in the face hit the ground,” said Rice. “He was hollering and moaning. Not saying words but just screaming. Other officers were jumping around him tending to him. Some were scrambling to get out of the way.”
It was unclear if there would be further protests in Ferguson on Thursday. However, from 6pm local time, the St Louis County police department and the Missouri state highway patrol were set to assume command of security around any demonstrations.
The arrangement has echoes of the change in protest policing arrangements in Ferguson introduced after violent clashes between demonstrators and police in August last year.
The shots were the first to strike law enforcement officers in the seven months since protests erupted following the shooting of Brown by Darren Wilson, a white officer. Gunfire was heard repeatedly during protests and rioting in August, when Brown was killed, and November, when prosecutors decided not to bring charges against Wilson.
“I think it is a miracle that we haven’t had any instances similar to this over the summer and fall, with the amount of gunfire we would hear,” Belmar said.
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