Ferguson Footage Shows Moment Officer Tackled, Leaving Him Fighting For His Life [VIDEOS]

Ferguson, Missouri, is once again in the midst of turmoil as the city observes the 10th anniversary of Michael Brown’s death.

On Friday, renewed protests erupted in the city as demonstrators gathered on the streets. Despite efforts by the police department to handle the situation peacefully, the night took a violent turn.

Police Chief Troy Doyle initially allowed protesters space to express themselves, but tensions quickly rose.

The crowd began vandalizing property, leading Chief Doyle to dispatch officers for arrests.

Amidst the chaos, Officer Travis Brown (no relation to Michael Brown) was assaulted by a protester, resulting in a severe head injury after being knocked to the ground.

WATCH:

Ferguson, MO

10 years ago Michael Brown was shot and killed after committing a robbery and trying to disarm a police officer. Facts.

Hands up don't shoot is based on a lie.

An officer is fighting for his life W/ a brain injury after dealing with "protestors" tearing down gate… pic.twitter.com/jEdHqXYvuN

— Glendale Arizona FOP Lodge 12 (@GlendaleFOP12) August 11, 2024

At present, Officer Brown is in critical condition at a nearby hospital. During a press conference on Saturday afternoon, Chief Doyle, accompanied by St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, spoke to the media.

Below is a partial transcript provided by RedState‘s Susie Moore:

“DOYLE: I called this press conference to talk about an event from last night. We had protesters across the street at the Andy Wurm parking lot — and I’ll have my P.O. provide you with times and all that stuff after this press conference — but we had protesters lined up across the street here at Andy Wurm parking lot.

For the majority of the night, they were all peaceful. In fact, we even began blocking our streets out here on South Florissant Road — we allowed the protesters to block our streets out here. Not only did we allow the protesters to block our street, we even provided a car…on the north end and on the south end so the protesters couldn’t get hit by vehicles.

Sometime throughout — well, throughout the night, the protesters were violently shaking our fence at this police station. Again, we did not even react. We stayed here, let them shake the fence. That happened several times throughout the night, up until the point that they broke the bottom portions of our fence — they destroyed property on our police department’s parking lot.

It was at that time I sent out an arrest team to make an arrest for destruction of property. My team got out there and was assaulted by a number of the protesters that were out there on the scene. As a result, one of my police officers suffered a severe brain injury. He is at an area hospital right now, fighting for his life.

And I’m going to break away a little bit from what I was planning to talk about. This police department — this Ferguson Police Department — since 2014, has been a punching bag for this community. The police department back in 2014 — we don’t even have them officers here anymore. So, what are you protesting? These officers are not even here no more.

Everything that the activist community has advocated for, as far as body-worn cameras, implicit bias training, crisis intervention training — all this stuff, we have done all of this. What are we protesting? What is it? We even changed the uniforms at this police department because people said that the old uniforms triggered people. What are we doing?

Ten years later, I got an officer fighting for his life. It’s enough, and I’m done with it. We’re not doing it here in Ferguson. Our community is united behind us. Our community is fed up. We wanna heal — our community want to heal. We want people to peacefully protest, but we damn sure ain’t gonna allow you to destroy this city, and we ain’t gonna allow you to none of these police officers. We are united here in this city. We’re done with it — we’re not doing it anymore.”

Bell, who secured victory over Cori Bush in the Democratic primary for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, offered his condolences and detailed the charges against the individuals implicated.

Chief Doyle’s impassioned plea underscored his frustration and worry for the community.

Elijah Gantt, aged 28, hailing from East St. Louis, has been accused in relation to the assault on Officer Brown.

Gantt is confronting numerous charges, such as assaulting a law enforcement officer, hindering arrest, first-degree assault, and causing property damage.

He is currently detained on a cash-only bond of $500,000. Officer Brown continues to be in critical condition due to a brain injury.

There's evil and good in this world. We all know this. Both were present last night in Ferguson. This is the face of good. Praying hard for you, Officer TJ Brown. pic.twitter.com/fMImmrN0T0

— Tim Fitch 🇺🇲 (@ChiefTimFitch) August 11, 2024

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