FBI arrests 2 bomb suspects in Ferguson as police prepare for further unrest
FBI sting operation nets two men attempting to acquire explosives to use during protests over the August killing of black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer
Two men suspected of buying explosives they planned to detonate during protests in Ferguson, Missouri, once a US grand jury decides the Michael Brown case, were arrested on Friday and charged with federal firearms offences, a law enforcement official told reporters.
Word of the arrests, reported by a number of media outlets on Friday, came ahead of the grand jury’s widely anticipated decision on whether the white police officer who fatally shot Brown, an unarmed black teenager, should be indicted on criminal charges.
The August 9 slaying of 18-year-old Brown under disputed circumstances became a flashpoint for US racial tensions, triggering weeks of sometimes violent protests in the St Louis suburb by demonstrators calling for Wilson’s arrest.
He was instead placed on administrative leave, and Ferguson has been bracing for a new wave of protests, especially if the grand jury chooses not to indict Wilson. An announcement was believed to be imminent.
Against this backdrop of heightened tensions, according to a law enforcement source, two men described as reputed members of a militant group called the New Black Panther Party, were arrested in the St Louis area in an FBI sting operation.