Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) declared a state of emergency and a curfew, which will go into effect in Ferguson beginning at midnight and run through 5 a.m. Sunday morning.
The announcement came in response to ongoing protests in the wake of last Saturday's police shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown.
"If we're going to achieve justice, we must first have and maintain peace," Nixon said. "This is a test. The eyes of the world are watching."
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Today's press conference turned heated at times, with community members and journalists raising their questions against ongoing shouts of frustration from others in the audience over the investigation of Brown's death thus far. Ferguson community leaders had used Saturday to get out on the streets and communicate via social media, encouraging demonstrators planning to protest again tonight to refrain from Friday night's looting and violence.
Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who was appointed earlier this week to run security operations, tried to reign in the heckling that accosted most of Nixon's time at the podium.
"What we're doing now is not who we are," he told the crowd. "The frustration in your home is in my home. It's in my home."
Johnson promised the demonstrators a more "hand-in-hand" approach from officials enforcing the curfew tonight, and Nixon added that a press area will be set up, "to make sure transparency is carried out during this process... I can guarantee you Capt. Johnson will make that staging area available so the press can openly and fairly record ... and show the country what's going on."
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