LIARS?

Cops Arrested 78 in Ferguson, Not 31

Police list contradicts official tally.

Missouri police reported arresting half as many people as they actually did in Ferguson on Monday night. NBC News obtained a list showing 78 people were arrested overnight, which is more than double the 31 authorities had reported. All but three of the people arreested were collared for refusing to disperse. Two were arrested for unlawful use of a weapon, and another for interfering with an officer. Eighteen people from outside Missouri were arrested, some from as far away as Brooklyn and San Diego. “I am not going to let the criminals that have come here from across this country, or live in this neighborhood, define this community,” Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ronald Johnson said. “Our officers came under heavy fire,” he said, but “not a single bullet was fired by officers.” There are several reports that police used tear gas to get crowds to disperse, and accounts of civilian gunfire and a man being pulled from his car at gunpoint. The night was generally peaceful until around 10 p.m., when some protesters threw bottles at police, and officers responded with high-pitched sound cannons.