WELDON SPRING, Mo. — Gov. Jay Nixon said Tuesday that the Missouri National Guard was part of a multiforce contingency plan by law enforcement authorities to avert violence as the region around St. Louis awaited a grand jury’s return in the death of Michael Brown three months ago.
“The Guard will be available when we determine it is necessary to support local law enforcement,” Mr. Nixon announced in a news conference at a state highway patrol headquarters here, standing beside law enforcement leaders from the St. Louis area. “Quite simply, we must and will be fully prepared.”
In August, Mr. Nixon called up the National Guard in the sometimes violent protests that followed the death of Mr. Brown, an unarmed black teenager fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis. The role of the Guard then was limited to protecting a police command post, but it drew harsh criticism from demonstrators who said it was more a sign of a military-style approach by the authorities. On Tuesday, some demonstrators criticized Mr. Nixon’s newest plan — and the possibility that he would call up the Guard again — as an overreaction that might only heighten potential anger.
Yet as the St. Louis area braces for a grand jury decision expected later this month on whether the officer, Darren Wilson, will be indicted in the killing, Mr. Nixon struck a firm, unapologetic tone about police plans. “As governor, the most important part of my job is keeping the people of Missouri safe,” Mr. Nixon said, ticking down a list of incidents that had occurred in August, and drawing a distinction between types of protesters — peaceful and not.
“In the days immediately following Michael Brown’s death, peaceful protests were marred by senseless acts of violence and destruction,” he said. “Vandals smashed the windows of small businesses. Criminals looted and set fire to stores. Gunshots and Molotov cocktails endangered citizens exercising their First Amendment rights and law enforcement attempting to maintain peace. That ugliness was not representative of Missouri, and it cannot be repeated.”
More from Eli Yokley and Monica Davey in the New York Times.