The continued clashes between police and the public in Ferguson, Missouri on Wednesday spilled into a McDonald's — leaving two journalists arrested and manager Keith Eyer shaken.
"It's just a terrible thing what happened," said Eyer, who has worked for the company for 34 years. "It's a bad thing. It's just not good."
Eyer was there when armed officers strode into the fast food joint and ordered out patrons, including Huffington Post reporter Ryan J. Reilly and The Washington Post's Wesley Lowery. The pair was in the area to report on the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown and the protests that followed, where ramped up tensions have escalated into brick throwing, tear gas, molotov cocktails and rubber bullets.
Meanwhile, reporters have been using the McDonald's as a hub because it has WiFi and electric outlets for charging phones and laptops. But McDonald's customers were hustled out Wednesday evening in a noisy show of force — and in the confusion, Reilly and Lowery were aggressively cuffed and taken to a Ferguson Police Department holding cell.
The scuffle was unlike anything McDonald's employees like Eyer had seen before.
"It's a rough time," he told Huffington Post, his voice shaky. "But I really think the city will get through it and make it stronger."
Below, more updates on the situation in Ferguson: