on"america tonight", live coverage from missouri, as another night falls and tensions rise. our social coverage from the scene of the killing of an unarmed black man gunned down by the police. now a community rises up. an "america tonight" special - flashpoint ferguson.

>> good evening i'm julie chen reporting at this hour from missouri, for this special report, flashpoint andrej meszaros -- missouri. this whole area has become a flash point about race, the use of police force, and the ability of a community to rise up and speak for itself. it began with the death last weekend of an unarmed 18-year-old man michael brown, and anger that emerged in the community because a police officers used his gun. we are continuing our coverage here, and have gone to the command center of the current event of the locality law enforcement, the county police and state highway patrol. they have gathered and been at work for hours, organising themselves, being prepared for at any time any possibility of renewed confron stations to

break out -- confrontations to break out. that has not been the case. there has been protests but no clashes have been reported so far. there was a march from st louis gateway often, the gate way of the west through the streets o where the young 18-year-old michael brown died, and the place where the confrontations and clashes have taken place. confrontations that have been so fierce that earlier in the day, president obama interrupted his vacation at martha's vineyard to urge police caution about the excessive force, and urge the police to be open and transparent as they continue their investigations. as well, we note other developments of the day - the missouri govern jay nixon visited ferguson and met his

first comments, saying that the state highway patrol would take over the security in the area to prevent a repeat of the clashes that have taken part over the last few days. we have seen these officers out in force, here at the command centre and as we have noted, these have been orderly protests through the evening. they are echoed with other nonviolent protests in cities across the country. we note that the aclu, the american civil liberties union filed a suit to force the police department of ferguson to disclose the name of the officer whose gunshot and killed young michael brown. joining us is aldolfus prue it, the chairman of acp, and works with the state and aacp. i wanted to ask you, and i understand that you have been in constant stuff with michael brown's parents, even as late as today.

what do they think about the developments and their concerns at this point. >> they had a chance to meet with the folks from the justice department and the u.s. attorney and a lot of folks who have to deal with the situation. i think they feel confident and comfortable that the federal government is moving in the right direction as relates to determining what went wrong and who to hold responsibility. and they had a brief conversation, i know, with eric holder. >> the attorney-general of the united states. >> yes, i think he gave condolences directly. i don't know the content of the conversation, i can imagine what he would have told someone at this time of need. i think they feel comfortable. they are still grieving, going through what any parent would could through. more than anything, they want to see justice done as relates to michael brown. >> now, you, i understand, through the n.a.a.c.p. have been

in contact with witnesses. indeed, additional witnesses have come forward. >> the primary focus now is to use the connections within the community to provide sanctuary and a means for the folks that want to do the right thing to get involved. they have been coming to us, we've been able to coordinate getting them in front of the authorities and the state authorities to tell their stories. there's three or four, but they are coming forward, and we are happy that their, and hope that the others could do the same. >> it's puzzled because after all the people have the opportunity to go to the place themselves, if they believe they have witnessed something important, why haven't they done that directly. >> were they asked? >> well, i think to some degree, some of them - a lot are coming out because they saw dorian johnson step out. >> that was the first one. >> that was the first one.

they felt if they could do it they would. a lot are telling us that. nobody wants their lives, upheaval turned over because they are trying to do the right thing. and they understand as witnesses that there may be people who disagree with the decision they take, and it puts them in harm's way turns their lives into an open book. a lot of folks don't want to be bothered with it. we are happy about it. >> the protests under way at this hour, we mentioned hundreds of people have gone out on the street. they started at the st. louis arch and moved through important areas in this case. this had been different for the last few days. what made the difference. >> i won't take anything away from the governor, but we met with the chief and us, and the unity affairs department and we were act sit and give them a

formula is that works, provide a means for them to protest, give them the space to do it, come up with a plan for marches, come up with a plan to do anything, and more than anything, become law enforcement for the protesters, protect their rights to protest, and you find you have allies on - behind the lines, versus the enemies, that is happening, it's taking place. things will stay calm, at least we hope they do. >> that is a big hope for many at this hour. thank you. thank you for being here. >> thank you. as we have noted there has been clashes over the last few days, and a great deal of concern, and going into the weekend, marking the one-week anniversary of michael brown's death. there has been a number of protests, and they have turned quite violent, quite significant clashes between the local protesters, and the law

enforcement who had been out, as you see in the pictures taken over the last couple of nights. in is from last night as well. the local law enforcement using both tear gas cannisters, and we are told rubber bullets as well. using assault rifles in the seats, and gaping attention and a -- gaining attention and a feel for concern. this case has been about race and confrontation with law enforcement as well as a community's concern about being able to talk directly and speak their mind, and speak their concerns about what is happening in the community. over the last day, al jazeera's "faultlines" correspondent sebastian walker has watched as developments took place in the community, and he joins us here now. what have you seen this last time? >> the flashpoint was one of the

most intense that we are hearing that has taken place over the last few days. i have rarely seen crowd control handed poorly. we were there in the afternoon. the police wanted the crowd to disperse. they were exercising their right. when they stayed their ground, armoured personal carriers, military-style police wearing helmets, carrying high powered rifles coming on to the scene, lining up across the street. it wasn't long before tensions rose. that is something that will cite, tensions, making people angry. it wasn't long after that that tear gas was fired. we were caught in the middle of it. the scene was some of the most intense police crackdown activity that i have witnessed.

we have covered these events across the united states and internationally. >> internationally as well. it looked like that. other complications in the world, where it's a military force. >> absolutely, and the center where protesters gathered was turned into something that looks like a war spoken. police were firing the cannisters down the side streets into the communities. it was a crowd that had been containing women, children, families. people have been protesting. the community angry about what they could face. >> were there warnings given before the tear gas cannisters came out. the police told the crowd they wanted them to disperse. they said they were standing their ground to make their point, they were peaceful.

there was no violence we witnessed before the military-style police were deployed. we didn't see the throwing of missiles. >> did the crowd threaten or throw something at the police. >> the police would ask the crowd to move backwards. they would obey the order. it was an intimidating line of police, they were armoured carriers, m raps, and it was an intimidating site. >> from "faultlines," sebastien walker has been with us. later in this programme we'll hear from sebastien again. he has done reporting about the militarization of law enforce. around this county, and he's going to talk with us specifically in that report about what he has seen, not only in this community, but throughout the nation, different law enforcement officers, different law enforcement units and how they handled the relationships with the community. on another subject.

there has been a lot of concern expressed in the ferguson area about the ferguson police department's resistance to reporting the specific name of the officer directly involved in michael brown's shooting. of course, there has been reports that there were some sort of confrontations between the police officer and michael brown. joining us now we'll talk with "america tonight"s lori jane gliha, who observed some social media exchanges that put pressure on the police department to release the name. >> the group anonymous have been known to get involved in situations like this. especially in small towns, situations in which police are not giving information freely or quickly. what has happened is a push for the name of the officer, that pulled the trigger, and a push for people to protest without the police department involvement. what has happened online is a bunch of people coming together, and they pushed the situation into the spotlight and also done

their best to keep authority holding them accountable. . >> greetings world. we are anonymous. >> a day after the death of michael brown, the hacking collective known as anonymous released this widow, launching operation ferguson. the widow urged local residents to protest brown's kill, promising retaliation if police interfere. >> if you abuse, harass or harm the protesters in ferguson, we'll take every web-based asset of your department and governments offline. it is not a threat, it's a promise. attacking the protesters will result in the release of personal information on every member of the ferguson police department. >> anonymous is a leaderless network of activists and hackers. they come together to protest what they see as violations of civil and human rites.

video have become their trademark. >> we are legion, we do not forgive or forget. >> in the video for operation ferguson, they made a demand call are for federal regulation of police contact. >> we demand that the congressional representatives and senator introduce legislation entitled michael brown's law. that will set national standards for conduct and misbehaviour in the u.s.a. the past week hackers throughout to be affiliated with anonymous launched attacks. on sunday the city of ferguson's website was brought down, tuesday the home address and phone number of the police chief was posted online. an email bomb was dropped. wednesday, police dispatch tapes said to be from the day of shooting was released. >> ferguson is asking for assistance with crowd control and a group gathering. we have a call stating there was

an officer-involved shooting. >> reporter: anonymous, the fact that they'll release pictures, name address, how do you respond? >> they have been doing that. it hasn't been accurate. all we can do is counter it. >> then the tweet today naming the officer who shot brown. the police took to twitter saying the wrong man had been identified, calling on those responsible for the posting to stop. the police chief at the press conference. >> we'll have a conversation about the release of the game. i guess it's anonymous put out a name, brian something that's - that is not the name. i haven't seen anything else. >> reporter: are these guys running name after name. >> that's probably what they are doing, taking the name of everybody and throwing it out there. >> twitter has taken down the account, which posted the name. >> and so that is the difference

with anonymous, is that there is no organization after the original tweet came out, showing that this name had been released a different twitter act affiliated with a different anonymous act denied involvement. anonymous isn't a leader. anyone can affiliate themselves with this. there is no way to vet what in fact is coming out. >> difficult to observe. >> anonymous, or some part of anonymous, is making an impact on the police department. >> yes, the st louis county police department confirmed last night their web system country wide went down or email system was not working. they planned an email thanking people and asking - telling them about the state police getting involved and they couldn't send that out because the email was not working. they are not sure if it is anonymous, but people have get the effects. >> lori jane gliha in missouri.

thank you very much. as lori jane gliha noticed there has been a lot of attention focussed on this case here in the area, but also through digital media across the world. we have seen the impact of it. joining us now from our d.c. studio is al jazeera's extreme host lisa fletcher, who is plugged into the social media community. this is a commooupty -- community that has rich up to speak itself. >> no doubt it has. it's lit up with images, reactions appearing on facebook and twitter, faster than it was possible to observe it. ferguson has been mentioned in 6 million tweets. what the world witnessed has left people shocked and wondering what is left for ferguson. >> we were standing peacefully and shouting a chant. police officers said it was no

longer peaceful and started to shoot tear gas. >> reporter: since saturday when michael brown, a black unarmed teenager was shot by a white police officer, social media has sizzled. wednesday night was different. >> here comes the st louis country police department continuing to advance their lines. we have pulled back a city block and a half. [ gun fire ] >> they are firing on to the crowd. they are firing rubber bullets. >> the images flooded twitter, instagram and others, tens of thousands tuning into live streams from the streets. >> they are attacking reporters, civilians, and firing upon the media. they are continuing to advance

down the street. >> online people were horrified. mesmerised and furious. this was not gaza iraq or egypt. this was a suburb in missouri. a "the washington post" reporter posted the video of his arrest while working out of the mcdonald's. >> stop video taping. >> and then tweeted the moment he was released. the video of an al jazeera america team running from a tear glass cloud was fewed 30,000 times within hours. >> it's close to the car and the equipment. they were about to do a live shot like we were, we were setting up in that neighbourhood. as cameras fled for safety, phones surveyed on. slogans spread, don't shoot and hands up. like this photograph of howard university students.

antonio french, a local politician and a chronicler of the protest was arrested. in an online campaign to free him, it sprung up within hours and trended across the country. pictures of the aftermath began to spread. as the night calmed people wondered what would have happened if social media hadn't been there. >> we are going to continue to record and bring this to you live from ferguson missouri. >> and today no doubt ferguson has been the national story as julie chen mentioned with the president breaking away from his vacation in martha's vineyard to address the situation. it may not have happened if hundreds of thousands hadn't seen the harrowing videos online. lisa fletcher joining us from our programme "the stream." thank you for being with us in this special edition of "america tonight". also we want to note that not only are people speaking out

through digital media. we hear them here as well on the ground close to where the situation took place in ferguson missouri. maybe in the background you can here, too, the horns honking through the community. as we noted there's a protest under way throughout this evening, a nonviolent protest to this point. we are hearing the horns that are to indicate the support they have for the community at a continuing investigation into the death of michael brown. we are seeing the command center where the local police, the county police and the state highway patrol have taken off. they are ready for any eventualities. so far a note that things have remained non-violent, but we do hear the horns in the distance. when we return to this special edition of "america tonight", "flashpoint ferguson", we'll look back and try to understand the event of the

week. we'll look through and find out what happened, why it did and what brought us to this point in ferguson, missouri. stay tuned.

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welcome back and thank you for joining us for this special "flashpoint ferguson." this community outside st louis has become an area of concern about law enforcement, race and an inability to speak up for itself. michael butler, sa state representative, joins us on the scope. you work in st louis, not this particular community, but you work with the young people, and they are putting out messages, a lot of messages through social media trying to express themselves here. >> yes, the state representative is an elected official, under 35 years old, he and myself and others are

representing others, we are taking to the iphone saying what is your reaction, what is your command for the police, give us the hashtag don't shoot, what is personal to you. >> what are they saying? >> they are saying that the police are the aggressors. the irony is michael brown was walking down the street, he was approached by a police officer who used heavy-handed tactics to kill him. the young people are marching, walking down the street and you have police officers meting them with heavy-handed tactics. the police reaction to this has been nothing better, and they are proving their colleagues guilty. they are proving that they are not prepared to take care of this community. >> when you talk about fear in the community. there's no way to be treated fairly, you, yourself, i have to notice are a young black man, working, living in a nearby community. part of the community, do you

understand the fear in a personal way? >> yes, and i understand it in a way that if i were to commit a crime. if i had fired my weapon upon a 17 to 18-year-old, no matter if there was an accident or not. i would be sitting in a cell. that's what they are saying, treat the officer or the murderer the same way you would treat us. you would treat that person in handcuffs before giving them paid administrative leave. they have given the police officer a head start to get out of the country. they would not do the same for myself or another youth. >> i have to note there is a police investigation. the officer's name has not been released, but he's been released of active street duty. that investigation aside. in the broader question about what this community peens to

bring itself unity. given the circumstances, which allows tension and concern over the world. what needs to happen, what is a constructive way to move snoord. >> the community and the government's community needs to listen to the use and voices affected by this more than anything. what they need to do is spend less money on days and riot gear and spend it on community involvement. we spent it on homeland security, millions of dollars. they need to put it back into the community - you can't force climb, you have to massage it, and you better take care of it. >> is there a reason to fear young black men walks in the streets. >> absolutely not. there's no need to fear any black men with any educational background walking the street.

>> michael brown, appreciate you being with us and the work that you are doing with young people in the area. went to unravel the event. there has been many and come quickly. we look at the events beginning with the death of young michael brown. >> reporter: it was last saturday afternoon, 18-year-old michael brown was walking down a street with a friend when he got into an alt quags with a lobing -- altercation with a local police officers. there are conflicting report about what happened but in the end an unarmed black man was shot and a police officer was involved. eyewitnesss and family deny there was a physical altercation and the young man attempted to grab the gun. >> he said he was unarmed and stop shooting me. the officer fired several more

shots into the head and chest area. >> community anger over brown's death and long-standing frustration spilled on to the streets. hundreds marched to a headquarters and they held the hands up as brown did, shouting, "don't shoot." protests turned destruction that night. there was looting, one business was set on fire. by monday concern over brown's shooting death was mounting as peaceful protests continued throughout the morning. >> i want to assure you this is a complicated investigation. a man lost his life. there's a police officer involved in this, and we need to make sure the investigation is done right. >> the federal bureau of investigation announced it was opening a parallel investigation to one done by county police

over civil rights abuses. >> brown's personalities poke out. >> he is my first born son. anybody i know know my son. i wish i could have been there to help him. >> he is a good boy. he didn't deserve none of this. none it of. we need justice for our son. >> they asked protesters to remain peaceful. as night fell, police launched a harsh crackdown, heavily armoured vehicles and tear gas to disperse the crowd. >> looters took advantage. unrest. on tuesday officials announced they would not release the name of officers involved in the shooting. that angered protesters.

. >>. >> it's when you keep people down... >> prominent civil rights activist reverend al sharpton joined the protests. a no fly zone was issued 3,000 feet over ferguson. and the president, from his vacation on martha's vineyard issued a statement urging the people of ferguson to remember this young man through reflection and understanding. [ gunfire ] at night more protests and the police crackdown continued. there was another officer-involved shooting. one man with a shotgun was critically wounded. the next day, after three straight nights of protest, the ferguson police chief faced tough questions. the justice department announced another investigation. and at night the protestor faced

off with county police, the time two journalists were arrested. and our crew was tear gas the. police were seen to attack peaceful protesters. this day brought stepped up national attention. the president spoke out. >> we are part of one american family. we are united in common values, and that includes belief in equality under the law. a basic report to public order, and the right to peaceful public protests. quite a day, quite a week of events following the death of michael brown last saturday. we'll look ahead to the next segment of our special report when we'll look back with sebastian walker of al jazeera's "faultlines," on a report he did about the militarization of law enforcement in the united states. there's quite a few stories to tell.

we'll hear about it after this. >> every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing, and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. rosie perez >> i had to fight back, or else my ass was gonna get kicked... >> a tough childhood... >> there was a crying, there was a lot of laughter... >> finding her voice >> i was not a ham, i was ham & cheese... >> and turning it around... >> you don't have to let your circumstance dictate who you are as a person >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america

>> now available, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest news >> they will continue looking for survivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now and welcome back. i am joanie chen. in missouri right outside of flash point ferguson. here in this area, there has been, of course, a great deal of

concern developed over the last few days because of protests and protesters in their encounters with law enforcement . at this at this hour we are at a command certainty where local police, state highway patrol have come together to make sure whatever developments there are through the course of the night will be handled in an orderly fashion, that has not been the case over the last knew nights where the clashes have been fierce, cuber bullets, wooden bullets as well as tear gas canisters have been used in the attempt to quell protest demonstration that his have taken place through this community. it's not just here . we look now to other communities to the connection between law enforcement and militarization in those areas. >> in the u.s. today there are now 10s of thousands of military-style police raids every year.

but only the worst cases make the news. we have come to investigate one that took place in a rural town just north of los angeles. >> scared me so bad because they were just so military and huge guns and full gear like huge, they were like puffed out like huge vests. they looked military to me. like they were going in to a war. >> early in the morning, on june 27th, armed police from across l.a. county converged on the property of eugene mallary and his wife tonya pate. their warrant said there property was being used for is a meth lab. the entire search warrant was the investigating officer said in spots down winds of the location he was able with certainty to smell chemicals. >> this is where i was. i was inside here. and the cop car was right here. >> tonya was in a trailer on the property and her son adrian was asleep in another trailer when she heard the police. >> and it scared me so bad that

i said adrian come out. and that's when that guy told her, contain her, so she shoved me in to the car and then put the handcuffs on really, really tight and pushed me in to the car and i said, that my son is in there. >> a thorough search of the property turned up no sign of meth. despite her pleas, the police wouldn't tell tonight i can't what they were looking for. every time i would ask she would say my detective will be here to talk to you. you just need to shut up . i am protecting me officers. i said from what? you said you are the one with all the guns . >> con ton i can'connauton i cao the place station but leased it was only on her return that she began to realize what had happened. during the raid, the armed officers entered the house where tonya's 80-year-old husband was sleeping .

gones drawn, six sheriff deputies made their way towards his bedroom. >> i came back to the house it and it was horrible, there was blood all over that bed. it was thick and it was running down the walkway and there was a lot of it. and i was just like oh, my god. >> eugene had been shot six times. five of those shots were fatal wounds to the chest. >> the bedding was saturated, pillows were full of blood. blood ran all the way down that side. i guess he laid over there and bled to death and died. >> eugene kept two guns next to his bed and nba latched boxes. the initial police report says the officer the confronted by an armed suspect. so one of the guns was potentially in this? >> yeah, but dents have enough time. >> their story was he was edges sitting and leveled the gun at

the officers and the report says that he was killed outside the bedroom as he was coming out to confront them. >> i have blood inside the room. and like i said if he was walking this way or right there, there is no blood in this pathway nor on this rug. >> ♪ ♪ >> both eugene's body and his gun were moved before investigators reached the scene. >> where the body dropped, where the gun is, why would you move any of these things? okay, you say he shot at you, everything he should be dropped where he's at, his gun should be in his hands, why is everything moved? i don't believe gene's gun was in his hands, that's why it was moved. i don't believe gene was where you said, that's why he was moved. >> during the raid, the police found canopies on the property, and tonya's son adrian who holds a medical marijuana license was arrested. he's been charged with possession with intent to supply. a charge the family denies.

now tonya is fighting to clear her family's name and get answers about eugene's death. >> this is him, so happy at his birthday party, 80 years old. he was good. >> he doesn't look like a dangerous man. >> anybody with authority, he was very respectful to them. and praised them for their job and, i mean, he would give them thumbs up, fire department, sheriff's department. pat them on the back. tell them what a great job, what would we do without you guys, you know. >> h♪ he just keeps rolling alo ♪ you and me with sweat and strain ♪ >> old man river is what he's singing. >> yes. his clothes and his shoes, they smell like him still in the bedroom and i don't want to move them. and i know you just keep taking thinks away and then they are gone. >> that must be -- >> i don't want him to be gone,

sebastian. i don't want him to be gone. >> let's justify killing an 80-year-old man in his house for a little bit of marijuana. that's what this -- that's what their argument is, i guess. >> the larger picture, what would you say this says about the nature of the way that these raids are being carried out? >> it's not only in our department here, it's across the country. we have seen an increased militarization of police departments. these are like seal team 6 coming in to your percentage residents, floss legitimate reason for the way they carried this out. >> from "faultlines" sebastian walker rejoins us here as we continue our coverage of flash point ferguson. know, seb when we look at the situation that you have seen over the last day, struck by the fact the attorney general came out himself as critical of the over militarization of law enforce. , anenforcement and yet, where o

those supplies come from. >> a lot of the impetus for those scenes is the fact that the police have this hardware, the military-styled vehicles high-powered weapons and all of this military gear. a lot of it comes from the federal government. there have been federal grants and program that his certainly off-load military used by the army in all of these conflict zones around the world and it's arriving now in police departments across the country. some of these police departments have answers that are not real will trained enough to use equipment like that. that's very high-powered weaponry. it's something that stands for mine resistance protection vehicle, that's something that basically soldiers right around in to make sure that they are not injured if a mine explodes beneath them it's hardly the kind of thing that you expect to be deployed in a community like ferguson, that's happening increasingly, there is estimated to be around 500 of those vehicles that that have now flooded in to police departments across the united states. that have actually come from

places like iraq and afghanistan being used in battle. it's happening more increasingly not just ferguson, other cities across the country too. it's definitely a problem. while a attorney holder is speak big this and complaining about the action the police are taking a lot of impetus comes directly from government. >> a very interesting report and you can see more of what sebastian learned as he reported the story arming america's police, that's comping up this saturday night on al jazerra america, the "faultlines" program, saturday, 7:00 p.m. eastern, we hope you join us for that. one of the key figures in our understanding of law enforcement, of criminal justice, on our "america tonight" program is our friends tom morris, investigative crime reporter who joins us from our washington set this hour. and, tom, you know, we are really struck by what sebastian walker reported on the

"faultlines" program as women. this sort of weaponry. when we talk about the tear gas canisters that were used. these are things that wouldn't even be allowed in the geneva convention in warfare. >> this is where it's come to. police departments are heavily armed now and the proliferation of these weapons has been an economic boone for a lot of police departments. a swat team actually can generate money for a police department. you have these highly-trained officerofficers who are trainint of the time. but when they are not training, then what do they do? they go out and do warrants searches. we have 50,000 swat raids a year in america. and most of them are for people who are wanted on minor warrants, drug warrants, et cetera, and they are not in the most effluent neighborhoods, this is not happening in bethesda or beverly hills, this happens in the inner-city, black and hispanic neighborhoods predominantly and poor neighborhoods. >> and so, tom, when departments receive this sort of support,

when they receive this kind of equipment, the inclination then has to be to use it for something. >> it's able -- they generate money because the asset forfeitures from the drug raids, swat teams go out and seize property in drug raids and generates money for injuries defenses. there is an economy around swat and they recruit police to the department. if you watch it on google or youtube, they use the swat images of officer battering in to homes, jumping off vehicles, heavily armed they use these in recruitment videos and it's attractive for guys that want to be police officers just like navy seals, et cetera, to try a to attract young men to join the military on the thought that perhaps if i am good enough i can make it in to this elite unit. and swat is the same thing for local police departments. i have seen police departments that he went to 20 years ago that had nothing and i have gone back in the last five or 10 years and looked at all of the

equipment that they had and couldn't believe it. i was like, where did you get all of this? they said 9/11. >> tom morris vim yale investigative reporter joining us once again with his insight helping us to understand law enforcement, not just here but across the country as well. appreciate that, tom. there was the confront indication that wconfrontation w hours and that was the one that came last night as we saw tear gas canisters being thrown in the streets, reports as well of rubber bullets and in face-offs with journalists who were reporting from the scene. one of them was al jazerra's usher wh whowas in the line of fire who u see in the video as a tear gas canister went off. this is an incredible disturbing

image that he spender and at this hour he is back on the streets following up as a protest, a round one is underway. ash-har. >> that's right, joie being it's a decidedly different tone here in ferguson. this is the site of where most of the unrest has been taking place over the last few nights, some of the worst rioting and looting that we saw over the weekend after the fatal shooting of michael brown here. and today we are seeing a large crowd. there has been a steady stream of vehicles driving through this area. that's been something that's been restricted over the last few days, the crowd here is loud. it is boisterous, but it has been peaceful up until this point. we have seen children here, infants in strollers, i saw a young man earlier passing out water bottles to strangers. it's a different tone right now. what we are not seeing tonight is a large contingency of police officers as we have been reporting. the missouri highway patrol has taken over security for this area, but we have not seen those

tactical units. heavy-armored vehicles the high-powered rifles standing affront of the areas keeping abreast of what's going on tonight. we determiner see a number of police weeks come in, suvs after a woman fell in the crowd, they came in to the area it looked like it might get ilgi for a moment as the crowds descended on the officers but even people in the crowd pushed people back and those vehicles were able to retreat. so nothing has happened so far yet. but it's still early in the everything, joie. >> al jazerra's ash-har reporting from the streets of ferguson whereas you hear a very loud protest is underway, but so far a very nonviolent one. as we heard from ash-har, thanks very much. we are going to return to our special report "mesh tonight's" look at flash point ferguson after a break. please stay with us.

welcome back to sour special edition the "america tonight." flash point ferguson. well get back to joie in just a moment. law enforcement officers are prepared to make polight-second decisions every day. more than 3500 police departments across america use recording devices that track both officers and the people in situations that they are dealing with. every thing from dash cam to his

cameras actually worn by the officers. ferguson's p.d. has some but says they don't have the money to install them. techno correct tour and former cia agent lindsay moran got a first hand look on how the body cams work on a ride along in oakland, california and it wasn't long before they juan in to trouble . >> officer brian hernandez was one of several units responds to go a call about a suspect in east oakland, wanted in a robbery . and attempted murder . but our cameras aren't cameras weren't the only ones catching the action, each officer wore one of these recording the action. >> sit back. >> i can't talk to my son? >> hold on. give as a second and then we'll let you talk to him.

>> what's the cameras for? >> that's something together totally unrelated. >> oakland is one of 3500 police departments nationwide using body cameras taking place of the dashboard cameras because they go where the officer goes. >> people discarding arms, making incriminating statements, that would have been the officer's word against their word and the lapel camera makes it evident. >> our policy is if you are investigationing a crime, or an encounter with somebody in detention we are supposed to activate it. >> how did it affect your job? >> at first it's uncomfortable to have everything recorded but to have everything back up our word it's great. hey, how are you doing, man? >> do you have a driver's license and registration? >> my license is suspended. >> your license is suspended. >> okay. >> what happens to the video after it's recorded by the lapel camera?

>> at the end of the officer's shift, he or she plugs it in to a terminal and the video is then up loaded onto a network server the officers can't delete it or anything along those lines. >> al jazerra techno correspondent joins you now via describe. what exactly did you see on your ride along? >> well, i saw first hand how these lapel cameras actually offer a layer of protection for both the police officer and the person interacting with that officer. that is, the camera doesn't lie. so unlike a witness or potentially a police officer, everything that happens is recorded and interestingly, the aclu has actually come out in favor of these body cameras, even though there is that issue of privacy, the their feeling is that it's better to have some video footage than none at all. that that is a better assurance of protecting people's civil liberties when dealing with the cops. >> so it's hopefully deterring incidents and making everyone

more accountable, getting rid of a little bit of bad behavior along the way. >> well, it's like everybody is on their best behavior when the camera is on. >> exactly. >> according to a controlled study done in a city of california, every since officers started wearing the body cameras in this police sphere, use of force complaints have dropped by 31st and field complains have dropped by almost 90%. >> you said that the aclu was supporting it, so i am assuming it they don't have a privacy concern here? >> there is that prove at this concern, but as i said the feeling is it's better to have some video than none at all. in fact, the oakland p.d. where i did a ride along and talked to the police officers there who have been using body cameras since 2011, one of the reasons that they have started using them was for situations just like ferguson. >> all right. [speaking at the same time] >> of exactly what the

interaction is between police officers and anyone that they interact with whether it's an arrest or routine traffic stop. >> all right, lindsey moran techknow respondent, thanks for joining us. got a tech note. thursday on the stream i'll have special coverage flash point ferguson we'll explore how this community moved forward and you'll hear first hand accounts of residents of ferguson. we are going to return to joie in ferguson right after the break, stick around remembe . >> an outraged community demands answers. >> we want justice... >> can peace be restored? >> no justice...no peace... >> flashpoint: ferguson live coverage continues only on al jazeera america

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overcrowding is such a big issue at this school. >> people in the outer islands of alaska picking up tsunami trash, really committed to what they are doing, and they have a lot more work to do. if you really want to tell peoples' stories, you've got to go talk to the people. >> real reporting. >> real news. >> this. >> this. >> this, is what we do. >> al jazeera america. thank you for joining us in ferguson, after clashes over a young man in the ferguson

community. thank you for joining us. continuing coverage tomorrow, join us then. behind the vie reps of racial tension en gulfing the city of in missouri have been rising for years, i'll tell you the back story. europe's economic recovery hits a bum and america fight feel it too. going inside what could be the apartments of the future to see how they stack up literally. i am ali velshi and this is "real money." ♪ ♪