ST. LOUIS (AP) â Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has ended the state of emergency that he declared for the St. Louis area ahead of unrest over the Ferguson grand jury decision.
By doing so Wednesday, Nixon removed the Missouri National Guard from duties in Ferguson, the city of St. Louis and other nearby communities.
Nixon issued his executive order on Nov. 17. Protests, including some that turned violent, broke out on Nov. 24 after St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch announced that a grand jury wouldn’t indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9.
Twelve businesses in the Ferguson area were burned during the unrest immediately after McCulloch’s announcement, but Nixon credited the work of police and the National Guard in preventing any protest-related deaths.