Ferguson council faces calls for reform at first meeting since teen's shooting

City bellwethers in Ferguson, Missouri, confronted demands for reform from an exasperated crowd on Tuesday night at their first public meeting since last month's fatal shooting of an unarmed ebony teen by a white police officer ignited weeks of protests.

The atmosphere was charged from the aperture minutes as members of a largely ebony audience that numbered in the hundreds shouted over remarks by city council members, elevating out of their seats and chanting in solidarity.

Crowd members had to pass through metal detectors and security sentinels to attend the council meeting, held at an area church. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Hands Up Don't Shoot," a phrase that has become a national rallying cry for activists protesting the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, and other acts of what they verbalize are police abuse.

As council bellwethers endeavored to discuss routine city business, one man shouted: "What about Mike Brown?"

Tensions have been high in the mostly ebony community of 21,000 people since the Aug. 9 shooting of Brown. Protesters are authoritatively mandating the apprehend of the officer who shot Brown, as well as the ouster of Mayor James Knowles III and Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson.

Council members admonished the audience at the commencement of the meeting that though they would take public comments, council members would not answer questions, a declaration that exasperated the audience as the council sat largely silent as long lines of verbalizers issued demands and asked for answers.

The meeting came the day after a public cognations firm representing the council promulgated a series of programs the council verbalized should avail reduce community concerns, including formation of a citizens' review board to avail amend law enforcement operations.

The council additionally verbalized it was introducing an ordinance to reduce fines and other penalties levied in municipal court that many have alleged inequitably target blacks.

Many in the community verbalized the proposals lacked crucial details and did not go far enough.

City and county officials have been under fire since the shooting of Brown by officer Darren Wilson spiraled into nightly protests and sometimes bellicose rioting in Ferguson. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency for the city, and sent in National Sentinel troops to endeavor to quell the unrest.

In one particularly heated exchange at the council meeting, several people rushed toward the stage after the council relucted to answer a question about whether Wilson was still on the city payroll. Security workers held the irate crowd back and church bellwethers urged calm and availed to persuade them to return to their seats.

Wild applause rang out from the crowd as people addressing the council called on Knowles to step down, and repined of ineffective city leadership, police harassment and racial profiling, among other grievances. Several withal verbally expressed that the police chief must be fired. Many admonished that civil unrest would perpetuate, and could expand if Wilson was not apprehended.

"We are not going back to business as conventional. We are holding you accountable," 29-year-old Ashley Yates told the council.

When the city council ended the meeting after three hours, many audience members were still lined up for a turn to verbalize. As city council members exited the room, several irate audience members who endeavored to make their way onto the stage were turned back by security sentinels.

CALLS FOR OFFICER'S APPREHEND

Many verbalizers on Tuesday night verbally expressed the circumstances of Brown's death authoritatively mandated action against the officer.

Some witnesses have reported that the unarmed teenager had his hands in the air in surrender when Wilson shot him. Both witnesses and police have verbalized there was an altercation between Brown and the officer that commenced when Wilson asked Brown and a friend to move out of a street they were ambulating down in a residential neighborhood.

Police verbalized Brown struggled with Wilson afore the shooting. An autopsy showed the teenager was shot at least six times, including twice in the head.

Wilson has been placed on paid administrative leave and has gone into obnubilating, as the county prosecutor presents evidence to a grand jury to determine if any charges are filed.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Brown's parents, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other groups reiterated their calls for Wilson to be apprehended immediately, verbalizing there was no reason to wait for a grand jury to review the evidence.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the shooting and additionally looking into incriminations of racial profiling by Ferguson police.

Protests have perpetuated in Ferguson and across the country over what demonstrators verbally express is a long history of police dauntingness and abuse of blacks in the St. Louis area and other U.S. cities.

A group called the Justice for Michael Brown Leadership Coalition verbally expressed it was orchestrating to block a major highway that runs through St. Louis on Wednesday.