ST. LOUIS — The man chosen to help bring St. Louis together during one of its most turbulent times is recounting what it was like in Ferguson after the Michael Brown riots.
Capt. Ron Johnson described what he went through professionally, emotionally and spiritually in his new book 13 Days in Ferguson. It’s the first time he has shared his view of what happened.
In a description on the publisher’s website, Johnson called the weeks after the riots the most trying in his life.
“Officers in his own command called him a traitor. Lifelong friends stopped speaking to him. The media questioned and criticized his every decision. Alone at the center of the firestorm, with only his family and his faith to cling to, Johnson persevered in his belief that the only way to effectively bridge the divide between black and blue is to—literally—walk across it,” the book’s description stated.
Johnson was selected by Gov. Jay Nixon to coordinate law enforcement agencies during the uproar over how police responded in the days following Michael Brown’s death.
Capt. Johnson is a lifelong resident of the St. Louis area. He earned a criminal justice degree at Florissant Valley Community College. He’s a 30-year veteran of the Missouri Highway Patrol and oversees Troop C, which serves 11 counties in the St. Louis area.
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For more information about Johnson’s book, 13 Days in Ferguson, click here.
