‘Mad Men’s’ Jon Hamm backs the protesters in Ferguson, hopes city will emerge stronger

LONDON – Jon Hamm, a St. Louis native, says he hopes “cooler heads prevail” in the Missouri city of Ferguson and “people come through it for the better.”

Talking about the riots that followed the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer, Hamm says “it’s difficult to watch because it’s my hometown.”

But the “Mad Men” star supports the protesters. He says “they have a legitimate reason to protest and they’re exercising their right to do that and so hopefully, in the end, people will come through it stronger.”

He said cities should not “be measured on how they have failed, but how they get through and how they clean up after their mistakes.”

Hamm was in London for a screening Thursday of the movie “Million Dollar Arm.”