Police shift response to US protests after outcry

Riot police clear demonstrators from a street in Ferguson, Missouri, August 13, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

On Sunday night, some residents were seen looting stores, damaging buildings and vandalizing property. Since then, officers from multiple police departments in riot gear and in military equipment have clashed nightly with protesters, who chant, "Hands up, don't shoot," a reference to witness accounts that Brown had his hands raised when he was shot.

Police have used tear gas and smoke bombs to disperse large crowds, including on Wednesday night when some people threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at officers.

The governor faced increasing criticism over suggestions he had not done enough to calm tensions.

Early Thursday evening, the tone appeared to be changing. St. Louis County police and state troopers walked alongside demonstrators, and several marchers stopped to shake hands with officers. One woman hugged Johnson.

Obama, speaking from the Massachusetts island where he's on a two-week vacation, said there was no excuse for excessive force by police in the aftermath of the shooting. He said he had asked the Justice Department and FBI to investigate the incident.

Residents in Ferguson have complained about the police response that began soon after Brown's shooting with the use of dogs for crowd control - a tactic that for some evoked civil-rights protests from a half-century ago. The county police force took over, leading both the investigation of Brown's shooting and the subsequent attempts to keep the peace at the smaller city's request.

The city and county are also under criticism for refusing to release the name of the officer who shot Brown, citing threats against that officer and others. The hacker group Anonymous on Thursday released a name purported to be that of the officer, but the Ferguson police chief said later that the name was incorrect.

Twitter quickly suspended the Anonymous account that posted the officer's purported identity and personal information. The site's code of conduct strictly forbids the publication of private and confidential information without permission.

Police have said Brown was shot after an officer encountered him and another man on the street. They say one of the men pushed the officer into his squad car, then physically assaulted him in the vehicle and struggled with the officer over the officer's weapon. At least one shot was fired inside the car. The struggle then spilled onto the street, where Brown was shot multiple times.

The officer involved was injured, with one side of his face swollen, Jackson said.

Dorian Johnson, who says he was with Brown when the shooting happened, has told a much different story. He has told reporters that the officer ordered them out of the street, then grabbed his friend's neck and tried to pull him into the car before brandishing his weapon and firing. He says Brown started to run and the officer pursued him, firing multiple times.

Johnson and another witness both say Brown was on the street with his hands raised when the officer fired at him repeatedly.