Ferguson, Mo. continues to make national headlines amid high tensions over the unfortunate police shooting of unarmed 18-year old Michael Brown on Aug. 9.

While much of the focus remains on the shooting, the resulting protests and the severity of the police response, business owners in the area have been caught in between, and have seen their stores looted, burned and damaged as anger boils over. 

Many firsthand accounts indicate only a few among the protesters have looted stores, or attempted to do so. In fact, it seems many of the protesters have banded together to protect local businesses (A Huffington Post article aggregates on-the-scene tweets here describing the events). And Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, who today ordered the National Guard deployed to Ferguson, has said recent violent criminal acts appear to have been perpetrated, in many cases, by people from outside the community and state.