Ferguson Mayor Rips Media About Paid Protestors

John Catsimatidis

Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III said external interests inflamed tensions in Ferguson over the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager shot and killed by a police officer in 2014.
“They’ve been openly raising money and distributing money for some time,” Knowles told radio host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on WNYM 970 AM in New York.

“The mainstream media continues mostly to ignore this fact,” he added. “It’s unbelievable what we’ve seen.”

The Hill reports Knowles recalled on Sunday how his city’s residents were puzzled last year by a flood of unfamiliar faces.

Ferguson police were especially troubled, he added, given they were arresting scores of citizens from outside their jurisdiction.

“When this all started back in August…many of us who live here…noticed that there were a lot of people from outside,” Knowles said.

“Only a handful were even from Ferguson,” he said. “And so we started asking the question: Where are these people coming from, and who’s supporting this?”