MISSOURI TEEN’S SHOOTING Police refuse to release name of officer

Associated Press

FERGUSON, MO.

The Rev. Al Sharpton pressed police Tuesday to release the name of the officer who fatally shot an unarmed teenager in suburban St. Louis, and he pleaded for calm after two nights of violent protests over the young man’s death.

Police said death threats prompted them to withhold the name of the officer, who was placed on administrative leave after fatally shooting 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, where the incident has stoked racial tension, rallies and a night of looting.

Investigators have released few details, saying only that a scuffle unfolded after the officer asked Brown and another teen to get out of the street. At some point, the officer’s weapon fired inside a patrol car, police said.

“The local authorities have put themselves in a position — hiding names and not being transparent — where people will not trust anything but an objective investigation,” Sharpton said during a news conference in St. Louis where he was joined by Brown’s parents.

He also echoed pleas for peaceful protests by the NAACP and Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr., who told the crowd: “I need all of us to come together and do this right. ... No violence.”

President Barack Obama also urged calm, saying people must comfort each other “in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.”

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said he had planned to release the officer’s name Tuesday but changed course after death threats were called into the police department and city hall and posted on social media. Jackson said it could be weeks before he releases the name.