According to CNN, at least 36 officers and deputies were injured after Wednesday night's protest in Memphis. Reportedly, U.S. Marshals had been searching for 20-year-old Brandon Webber and found him at a home in a Memphis' Frayser neighborhood. CNN reports, Webber was wanted on multiple warrants. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation told the source that Webber escaped to a vehicle outside the residence and begin ramming into officers' cars several times. The agency states that he eventually exited the vehicle with a weapon.

That's when multiple Marshals fired on Webber, striking and killing him.

At that point, no officers were injured. However, news of the alleged felon's death spread like wildfire throughout the neighborhood. ABC News reports that protesters quickly gathered in the vicinity. The more protesters arrived, the more Memphis police also arrived on the scene as backup to the Marshals. CNN states that neighborhood residents began hurling rocks and bricks at officers, as well as smashing squad car windows. Two journalists were also injured during the protests, according to Strickland.

Memphis police director says protesters attacked the wrong agency

Michael Rallings, Memphis police director, told a CNN affiliate that his officers were only on-location to help contain the scene.

However, Rallings mentions that "for some reason," the protesters turned their anger and frustration toward his department. According to Rallings, there were people in the crowds trying to help keep the angered residents calm. But he also calls the Frayser neighborhood a "victimized" one. Likewise, the department director continues by stating that, when violent acts like these happen, it only furthers that mentality.

Director Rallings mentioned that residents and protesters should wait until accurate information is released. He says people should know exactly what happened before spreading misinformation, rumors, or jumping to conclusions. "Often individuals do not have the facts," Rallings notes. He states that's a dangerous thing.

Mayor Strickland commended the Memphis police department, saying he was impressed by their "professionalism" and "incredible restraint" during the protests.

However, Shelby County Commissioner and mayoral candidate Tami Sawyer empathized with the neighborhood. Although she's not excusing the protesters' responses, she says she understands it. "People are hurting," Sawyer mentions. Reportedly, she says that people shouldn't judge the neighborhood without asking how it feels mourn their youth time and time again. Sawyer notes that when pain and trauma become too much to handle, and when the city has constantly ignored their cries, what are people to do?
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