At LAT, "Police deny claims that officers beat Ferguson shooting suspect":
A man accused of shooting and wounding two police officers during a protest outside the Ferguson Police Department last week - while possibly aiming for someone else in a crowd of demonstrators - was arraigned Monday, according to the St. Louis County prosecutor's office.
Jeffrey Williams, 20, is charged with two counts of first-degree assault, one count of shooting from a car and three counts of armed criminal action. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
Online court records showed Williams entered no plea.
Late in the day, defense attorney Jerryl Christmas suggested that police had used excessive force during the arrest. Christmas told the Associated Press that Williams had bruises on his back, shoulders and face and a knot on his head. A pastor who visited Williams in jail made similar allegations, and Williams' mug shot appeared to show at least one red mark on his cheek.
Authorities denied wrongdoing.
“The St. Louis County Police Department calls these allegations completely false,” St. Louis County police spokesman Brian Schellman said in an email to the Los Angeles Times, adding that “the arrest team had an overwhelming presence and Williams did not resist whatsoever.”
Williams' interview with detectives shortly after his arrest was recorded on video, and a nurse deemed him fit for confinement, Schellman said.
Williams, who lives near Ferguson, was arrested over the weekend and confessed to firing the shots at the protest early Thursday, officials said Sunday.
Williams told investigators he'd had an argument with someone at the demonstration and hadn't intended to shoot the officers, according to St. Louis County Prosecuting Atty. Robert McCulloch, but officials said they hadn't confirmed that claim.
A photographer for the St. Louis American newspaper confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that Williams was at the scene earlier in the evening, hanging toward the back of the crowd.And at the St. Louis American, "Police arrest 20-year-old North County man in connection to police shooting in Ferguson":
St. Louis American photojournalist Lawrence Bryant, who has worked almost every protest since August 9, said he noticed Williams "hanging around" at the protest on Wednesday - specifically as a new face he had never seen before.
"I always notice new faces," Bryant said, "because I wonder what they are there for."