Tensions have been rising in Ferguson, reaching a telling point on Tuesday evening when a police officer threatened journalists.

On Tuesday night a group of journalists were filming a street protest in Ferguson, Missouri when a police officer pointed his assault rifle at the crowd, The Free Thought Project reports.

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A journalist tried to show the police officer that he was not a threat by raising his arms and telling the officer that his hands were up.

"I'm going to f--- kill you!" the police officer responded.

The group of journalists demanded the police officer's name, however the officer was still irate.

"Go f-- yourself," the police officer said.

A St. Louis County police sergeant intervened and succeeded in getting the irate officer to point the gun downward.

The incident in full has been posted on YouTube.

Mashable reporter Amanda Wills tweeted that the officer had been irate all evening, demanding that journalists turn off their lights and cameras.

The irate police officer has since been identified as Lt. Ray Albers, a 20-year veteran on the St. Ann police force, New York Daily News reports.

St. Ann is a suburb close to Ferguson.

The ACLU wrote a formal letter requesting the removal of the officer and sent it on Wednesday, saying in the letter that Albers' conduct was "wholly unacceptable".

"Such behavior serves to heighten, not reduce, tension," the letter said.

The St. Louis County Police Department said in a statement to Mashable that Albers has been relieved of duty and put on indefinite suspension.

Mashable had spoken with the dispatcher at the St. Ann Police Department, who said they have been getting a large influx of calls regarding Albers.

St. Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman said in a statement that Albers' behavior is "not indicative" of the police officers on the scene.

TagsFerguson, police, journalist