Tensions flared up again in the Missouri town of Ferguson after the August 9 shooting of an unarmed African American teenager Michael Brown.

Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson said police fired a teargas canister at a crowd near a food and liquor store, setting off a larger spate of violence and looting. Johnson, an African American officer named by state governor Jay Nixon to spearhead security of the town, reported protesters threw bottles at riot gear-clad police who were trying to disperse the crowd.

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After calm had descended on Thursday, protesters and looters were out in force Friday when the town police, under pressure from state and federal bodies, released the name of the officer who shot Brown, but not before releasing CCT footage implicating the teen in a local convenience store robbery. 

The Brown family calls the video a smear campaign. It is unlikely the shooting and alleged robbery are related, and Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told reporters Wilson did not know the theft had taken place. 

Circumstances of the killing remain vague. Police contend the teen, after being told to move off the street and onto the sidewalk, reached into Wilson's patrol car and wrestled for the service revolver. Wilson sustained an injury from the scuffle, and several shots were fired at Brown, who collapsed 30 feet away from Wilson after the shooting.

Witnesses maintain Wilson reached out of the cruiser at Brown, who was trying to get away. Accounts say the teen had his hands up in surrender when he was shot. 

The shooting set off massive protests in Ferguson and across the Internet, even drawing the attention hacking collective Anonymous, who erroneously identified another officer as the shooter. The US Justice Department and St. Louis County police force are formally investigating the incident for civil rights violations. 

Tagsferguson protests, missouri teen shooting, michael brown shooting, michael brown protests