Missouri governor lifts Ferguson curfew

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) is lifting a curfew on Ferguson as the National Guard attempts to restore order in the community.

Ferguson has been under a curfew from midnight to 5:00 a.m. the last two days, after Gov. Nixon declared a state of emergency. In a statement Monday afternoon, Nixon said the curfew has been lifted and will not be in place early Tuesday morning.

Nixon also said the National Guard will operate under the state highway patrol's discretion and that its role will be fairly limited. A main responsibility will be to protect a police command center.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The St. Louis suburb has seen large, sometimes violent protests since police officer Darren Wilson shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, on August 9. Gov. Nixon called for the National Guard's assistance as unrest continued. The new curfew announcement comes after a pathologist declared Monday afternoon that "we don't know" whether Brown's hands were in the air as he was shot.