With helicopters buzzing overhead, residents of Ferguson are getting their first look at the destruction on the ground after a night of violent protests.

The city is simmering following the decision by a grand jury to clear a white police officer in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

The decision to clear Officer Darren Wilson over Michael Brown's death sparked a night of unrest in which a dozen buildings were set on fire.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay condemned the unrest.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) ST. LOUIS MAYOR FRANCIS SLAY SAYING:

"It really sets back the cause of social justice. Violence doesn't solve anything and if we're going to have real change in this community, it's going to take all of us working together and not committing violence."

Despite tear gas and flash-bang canisters overnight, demonstrators returned to the streets Tuesday, protesting outside the courthouse in Clayton, where the grand jury sat.

Officials described