US police clash with protesters for fifth night over death of unarmed black teen

Protests over the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in the US have turned violent, as angry demonstrators hurled Molotov cocktails at police who responded with smoke bombs and tear gas.

On Wednesday, the protesters in Missouri faced heavily armed police who occasionally pointed automatic weapons on them from an armored truck.

The demonstrators accused the police of brutality and discrimination against African-Americans.

The protests have been held in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson every night since Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black teen, was shot multiple times and killed by a police officer on Saturday.

Ferguson city officials have declined to identify the officer who killed Brown, stoking frustrations in the largely African-American community, where residents describe increasingly tense relations with the police.

“Unfortunately, an undertow (of racial unrest) has bubbled to the surface,” Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson said. “Race relations is the top priority right now.”

During Wednesday’s rally, police shot and critically wounded a 19-year-old protester who pointed a handgun in their direction. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Also on Wednesday, two reporters from The Washington Post and The Huffington Post were arrested and put into a police van after officers came in to quickly clear the fast-food restaurant where they were doing some work.

The Washington Post reporter said he was slammed against a soda machine and plastic cuffs were put on his wrists.

The Huffington Post reporter said an officer slammed his head against the glass “purposefully” on the way out of the restaurant “and then sarcastically apologized for it.” The reporters were subsequently released without any charges.

Martin D. Baron, The Washington Post’s executive editor, issued a statement saying “there was absolutely no justification” for the reporter’s arrest and said the organization was appalled by the officers’ conduct.

Anonymous, the loosely associated group of international activists and hackers, said on Twitter that it had broken into Ferguson’s municipal computer system. It has threatened to bring down city, county and federal networks if the police overreacted to rallies and protests.

The group released details about city workers and posted photos of Jon Belmar, the chief of the St. Louis County police, who is conducting the investigation into the shooting, as well as his wife, son and daughter. It also posted his address and phone number.