Police in Ferguson, Missouri, appear to be escalating a crackdown on protests over an officer’s fatal shooting of unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown. On Wednesday, Ferguson police fired tear gas, stun grenades and smoke bombs to break up a fifth night of demonstrations. At least 10 people were arrested, including St. Louis Alderman Antonio French, who has been posting video online of the protests and who appeared on Democracy Now! earlier this week. An earlier protest faced a heavy police response, with police in riot gear stationed by a massive armed vehicle in the street.

Protest organizer: “I’m very discouraged. This was supposed to be a peaceful rally, that we wanted peace and unity. We don’t want an adversarial relationship with the police. We want to partner with them to find out what happened and to bring justice for Mike Brown, because that’s what it’s all about. And so, the fact that it had to come to this is very disheartening and disappointing.”