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ByAlanScherZagier The Associated Press FERGUSON, MO. Protesters called for calm but vowed to keep pushing for change in Ferguson a day after the shooting of two officers in front of the city's police de- partment heightened ten- sions in the St. Louis sub- urb. Dozens gathered for a candlelight vigil Thurs- day night, where they ex- pressed sympathy for the wounded officers. They also prayed for peace as Fergu- son moves forward in the wake of a scathing Justice Department report on ra- cial bias in its law-enforce- ment practices. A larger crowd of about 200 protesters gathered later outside the police de- partment, but the scene was a marked contrast to the previous night, when fights broke out before the shootings. Some called for specific changes: the resignation of Ferguson's mayor or the disbanding of the police department. Others were there to remember 18-year- old Michael Brown, whose shooting death by a Fergu- son police officer in August made the city a national fo- cal point. "We'll not be derailed in the pursuit of justice by anybody or anything that wants to get in our way," said the Rev. Traci Black- mon, a member of the state's Ferguson Commis- sion who led the prayer vigil at a public plaza in down- town Ferguson near the po- lice department. "We refuse to stop." Officers from the St. Louis County Police De- partment and the Missouri Highway Patrol were sum- moned to bolster security but largely stood idle in the distance. The protest- ers had largely disbanded by 11:30 p.m. No arrests were made. The shootings just af- ter midnight on Thursday came as protesters had gathered after the resigna- tion of the city's embattled police chief. They marked the first time in more than seven months of tension in Ferguson that officers were shot at a protest, and the bloodshed threatened to inflame the already fraught relationship between police and demonstrators. Both wounded officers were released from the hospital Thursday, but St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar — who called the attack an ambush — said they could have been killed. One was shot in the right shoulder, the bullet ex- iting through his back. The other in the right cheek, just below the eye. The bul- let lodged behind his ear. Several people were taken in for questioning but were later released, and no arrests were made by late Thursday. The shots were believed to come from a handgun across the street from the police department. The gunman may have fired from up to 120 yards away, a distance longer than a football field. But with a line of roughly 20 officers standing in front of the building, the shooter did not have to be particu- larly accurate to hit two of them, Belmar said. In Washington, President Barack Obama took to Twit- ter to relay his prayers to the officers and to denounce violence against police. "Path to justice is one all of us must travel together," Obama wrote, signing the tweet with his initials to in- dicate the president person- ally composed it. Attorney General Eric Holder said the gunman was "a damn punk" who was "trying to sow discord in an area that was trying to get its act together, try- ing to bring together a com- munity that had been frac- tured for too long." But U.S. Sen. Claire Mc- Caskill told NBC's "Today" show Friday that the shoot- ing highlights "a disconnect between some communities in this country and law en- forcement ... So we've got to go back to the drawing board." In a statement, Fergu- son Mayor James Knowles III and the city council said that although they respect the right to protest peace- fully, "we cannot continue to move forward under threats of violence and de- struction to our commu- nity. We ask our residents and clergy in this area to partner with us as we make our way through this process." The calls for healing and reconciliation weren't re- ceived favorably by all. As participants gathered be- fore the prayer vigil Thurs- day night, shouts of "white power" came from a pass- ing pickup truck. Brown's August shoot- ing by former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wil- son prompted protests lo- cally and across the nation, and tensions escalated in November after a county grand jury declined to pros- ecute Wilson. VIOLENCE CalmprevailsinFerguson a er shooting of police officers JEFFROBERSON—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Officers from the St. Louis Police Department walk through a crowd of protesters outside the Ferguson Police Department on Thursday in Ferguson, Mo. By Sean Murphy The Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY The ac- tions of some fraternity members at the Univer- sity of Oklahoma caught engaging in a racist chant are inexcusable, but stu- dent members still have rights that must be pro- tected, an attorney hired to represent the local chap- ter said Friday. Stephen Jones, who gained national promi- nence as the attorney for convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, said members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and their parents also are concerned about the stu- dents' safety after some received death threats and were physically and ver- bally assaulted. Jones said he has not been retained to initiate any litigation, but to en- sure that the due process rights of members are pro- tected from actions by the university and national chapter. He said there are some legal questions about the fraternity house that OU President David Boren ordered closed after the re- lease of the video, which showed some members engaging in a racist chant that referenced lynching and said African-Amer- icans would never be al- lowed to become members. He said the bus on which the students were caught making the chant was one of five charter buses that were taking members to a Founder's Day party at a country club in Oklahoma City on Saturday. "We're talking about one incident with nine seconds of video, on one of five buses," Jones said. Jones ran unsuccess- fully as a Republican for U.S. Senate in 1990 against Boren, who stepped down from his U.S. Senate seat in 1994 to become presi- dent of OU. A spokesman for the fraternity's national headquarters said Fri- day that officials with the Oklahoma chapter have stopped communicating with them. "We have not heard from the Oklahoma chap- ter," spokesman Bran- don Weghorst said. "They have not engaged us since the time the chapter was closed." Weghorst said the na- tional fraternity is mov- ing forward with plans to expel all of the suspended members of the OU chap- ter, a move that will per- manently revoke their membership. Meanwhile, Weghorst said the national fraternity is continuing its investiga- tion into SAE chapters at other universities, but did not provide any updates on those investigations Friday. He confirmed Thursday that investigations were underway into chapters at the University of Texas- Austin and Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. The national SAE fra- ternity has said some alle- gations of racism, which it acknowledges, refer to in- cidents from more than 20 years ago. But the frater- nity maintains that none of its official chants are racist and that members of the Oklahoma chapter likely learned the one that was recorded from fellow chapter members. In Boulder, Colorado, the SAE chapter hung a banner this week outside their fraternity house that reads: "Not on our campus. Not in our chapter. Colo- rado Chi brothers stand against racism or hate of any kind." OKLAHOMA Lawyer says goal is to protect rights of fraternity members Thiscouldbeyourluckyday by helping a dog or cat find a loving home from... Ad Sponsorship $ 25 Call Suzy 737-5056 RedBluffDailyNews ELI Paws & Claws TEHAMACOUNTYANIMAL SHELTER 1830 Walnut Street P.O. Box 38 • Red Bluff, CA 96080 (530) 527-3439 CORNING ANIMAL SHELTER 4312 Rawson Rd. Corning, CA 96021 (530) 824-7054 ADOPT A PET TODAY Please help sponsor a classroom subscription Call Kathy at (530) 737-5047 to find out how. 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