National Guard Leaving Missouri

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday ordered the state National Guard to begin withdrawing from Ferguson after nearly two weeks of intense and violent clashes between police and demonstrators in connection with the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

The troops were deployed in Ferguson beginning on Monday, but their role was low-key, protecting the police command center and monitoring the protests in the St. Louis suburb each night. By Wednesday night, amid thunder and rain, the number of protesters had dwindled and the intersection of Ferguson and West Florissant avenues, the epicenter of the demonstrations, grew peaceful.