FERGUSON, Mo. -- Missouri state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal confronted Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson during a press conference Wednesday, asking why she was tear-gassed during a nonviolent protest. Chappelle-Nadal, a Democrat, said she had been tear-gassed while peacefully protesting the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed African-American teenager shot to death by a police officer on Saturday.
"I just wanted to know if I was going to be gassed again, like I was on Monday night," Chappelle-Nadal asked. "We couldn't get out, and we were peacefully sitting. I Just wanted to know if I'm going to be gassed again?"
"I hope not," Jackson replied. Jackson said people at Monday's protest threw rocks at officers and gunfire came from the crowd, so police used tear gas and "beanbag rounds" meant to stun, according to USA Today.
Chappelle-Nadal offered The Huffington Post further details following Jackson's press conference.
“We were in that neighborhood and we were tear-gassed," she said. "I could not breathe, I could not speak, I could not focus, I could not think because I thought that I were going to die because we were shot at and tear gas was constantly thrown at us and the police officers."
She continued: “I'm the senator for the area, and I felt threatened. Everyone felt threatened."
Chapelle-Nadal said Jackson's response was "bullshit."
"He blew me off," she said. "It was bullshit, and the thing is ... I don't tell people when I'm out with these kids, 'Hey, I'm your senator.' But I don't care about that, I care about these kids."
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