No Justice, No Peace!': Molotov Cocktails and Looting Swamp Police, So Store Owners Take Up Arms to Defend Themselves

Molotov cocktails, looting and a few tense standoffs — between police and protestors and between protestors and other protestors — marked Friday night in Ferguson, Missouri.

As chaos swept the town, some store owners and protestors took it upon themselves to defend stores from looting.

"There are no police," one store owner told KTVI-TV, saying that local law enforcement was giving store owners a run around, forcing him to take up arms to defend his store.

Peaceful demonstrations turned violent in Ferguson Friday as protestors descended on the town to decry the recent shooting of an unarmed young black man by a police officer.

Protestors stand in the middle of West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, refusing to leave despite police orders early Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014. (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Robert Cohen)

As KMOV-TV reported:

Multiple police agencies were called to Ferguson early Saturday morning following reports of violence.

About 200 protesters clashed with police at the height of the disturbance at the Ferguson Market, where they began looting.  Police said they tried to set the store on fire.

The Ferguson Market is believed to be the same store where Michael Brown may have been caught on surveillance video stealing cigarillos shortly before he was shot.

Protesters march down the middle of a street, Friday, Aug. 15, 2014, in front of a convenience store that was looted and burned following the shooting death of Michael Brown by police nearly a week ago in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

CNN reported that the looting followed a police response to a Domino's Pizza store, where protestors had allegedly thrown molotov cocktails onto the roof.

Other looted stores included a liquor store, an electronics store, and a beauty supply store, police told KMOV.

Chelsea Johnson, from St. Louis, holds up a shirt protesting the shooting death of Michael Brown by police nearly a week ago in Ferguson, Mo., Friday, Aug. 15, 2014, in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

While some have taken advantage of the chaos to loot and wreak havoc, others, including pastor Robert White, are calling upon the people of Ferguson to reject the violence.

“We need to show that we are peaceful people,” White told KTVI-TV.

KMOV reported that some protestors took it upon themselves to block store entrances, temporarily deterring looters.

However, ultimately stores lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise to looting, KMOV reported.

Protesters hold up signs, Friday, Aug. 15, 2014, in front of a convenience store that was looted and burned following the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown by police nearly a week ago in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

According to KMOV, at least one shooting victim was hospitalized Friday night, though details on that shooting were scant.

A car approaches a makeshift memorial, Friday, Aug. 15, 2014, in the middle of the street where Michael Brown was killed by police nearly a week ago in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

This story has been updated.

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