Missouri lawmaker Jamilah Nasheed tweets outrage over shooting in Ferguson

Missouri state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, who has been a fixture at protests in Ferguson, Mo., quickly took to Twitter to express her outrage after Thursday's shooting of two police officers in the St. Louis suburb.

The Democratic senator, who represents the 5th District in St. Louis, told her more than 5,000 followers that the "ambush" was an act of cowardice.

"When will this madness end?" she tweeted.

Her followers responded with mixed feelings.

"Senator Nasheed, KEEP RIGHT ON speaking out, representing your constituents, keep right on voicing our concerns," one woman tweeted.

But others were less enthused, calling Nasheed an "agitator" whose "talking points could have helped provoke this."

A St. Louis native, Nasheed was arrested in October after purposefully walking on the street when police ordered protesters not to, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was released the following morning and called her arrest a "symbolic" act.

Nasheed has been equally critical of Ferguson's police force and called the decision Wednesday by Police Chief Thomas Jackson to resign "a step in the right direction."

"In order to heal the wounds of racism in Ferguson, the people need a clean slate and new leadership," Nasheed said in a statement Wednesday. "I have to say I am elated to see that Michael Brown's death is not in vain. The systematic changes and new leadership should and must continue."

Nasheed was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2005. She was sworn in for the first time in 2006 and served until 2012, when she was elected to the state Senate.

Here are some of the tweets she posted after Chief Jackson's resignation. Times noted are Pacific time:

By day's end Thursday, Nasheed had this tweet:

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