It took Missouri Governor Jay Dixon five days to get to Ferguson after the shooting of Michael Brown. Dixon, a Democrat, finally announced in the middle of the night that he would be altering his schedule to head to St. Louis County. The governor says he’s listening at Christ the King United Church of Christ in Florissant, Missouri.
Police have arrested some 60 people in and around Ferguson since Saturday–including two journalists and alderman and community journalist Antonio French. The local police department has meanwhile declined to release the name of the officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown, which is one of the few modest demands demonstrators have been making. One of several Anonymous accounts on Twitter has claimed to have the officer’s name, but it hasn’t been independently verified.
It appears that Governor Dixon will soon announce that he’ll be relieving St. Louis County police officers of their duties in the county. Bloomberg’s Derek Wallbank tweeted that Representative Lacy Clay (D-Missouri) told him as much:
Clay: "The gov. just called me and he’s on his way to St. Louis now to announce he’s taking St. Louis County police out of the situation"
— Derek Wallbank (@dwallbank) August 14, 2014
It’s unclear which agencies would replace the St. Louis police department:
Gov. Jay Nixon, D-Mo., didn’t say whether state police or FBI would be taking over: Clay to @jonallendc #Ferguson
— Derek Wallbank (@dwallbank) August 14, 2014
President Obama is expected to issue remarks on Ferguson later today.