It Was a Brutal Night for Cops in Memphis

At least two dozen police officers were hurt Wednesday while trying to fend off protesters in Memphis, where tensions are high following a fatal shooting by US marshals. Police say protesters angered by the death of the man in north Memphis—which reportedly occurred on the lawn of his family home around 7pm as officers tried to arrest him—vandalized squad cars, smashed windows at a fire station, and hurled bricks and rocks at cops. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said Thursday that at least 24 officers were injured, including six who were hospitalized, along with two journalists, per CNN. He added the officers showed "incredible restraint as they endured concrete rocks being thrown at them and people spitting at them" in a show of "unwarranted" aggression.

Police in protective gear ultimately used tear gas to break up a crowd estimated at 300, which included "many individuals … that tried to assist in keeping everyone calm," Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings says, per NBC News and CBS News. Three people were arrested. The US Marshals Service's Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force had been trying to apprehend a man wanted on multiple warrants—CBS names him as 21-year-old Brandon Webber—when he "reportedly rammed his vehicle into the officers' vehicles multiple times before exiting with a weapon," and was killed, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Rallings is now urging residents to wait for more information before jumping to conclusions. (More Memphis stories.)