Ferguson mayor: National Guard not deployed in time

Ferguson Mayor James Knowles said Tuesday that National Guard troops were not deployed in time to protect businesses following the grand jury decision not to indict the officer who fatally shot unarmed black teen Michael Brown.

“Unfortunately as the unrest grew and further assistance was needed, the National Guard was not deployed in enough time to save all of our businesses,” Knowles said at a press conference. 

Ferguson was hit by arson and looting after Monday’s announcement, in a case that has captured the nation’s attention. 

In preparation for the announcement, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon had created a unified command of different police departments to oversee security, and had activated the National Guard. 

Knowles said that on Monday night “we reached out both through the unified command and through political channels” to try to get the National Guard deployed to protect businesses. 

He said there were “many elected officials in the region, both statewide and others who did help us try to reach out to the governor,” adding that “eventually those troops were deployed, unfortunately they were too late.”

Local business groups are reaching out to business owners who have suffered damage to their properties, Knowles said.