Protests ease as snow falls on Ferguson

FERGUSON, Mo. — Calm was prevailing in Ferguson as protesters turned out in fewer numbers on a snowy third night of demonstrations over the police shooting of an unarmed black teen.

National Guard troops were visible late Wednesday but their numbers reduced as well from the night before, when a squad car was torched by protesters angered by a grand jury's decision not to indict the white police officer who fired the shots that killed Michael Brown, 18, in August.

Only two people were arrested on Wednesday evening in Ferguson in addition to three others who who were detained at a demonstration in nearby St. Louis earlier in the day, police said.

Authorities in Missouri were hopeful that Wednesday's largely peaceful demonstrations would mark a turning point in the crisis here.

Gov. Jay Nixon said on Thursday that he would go to the Ferguson command center to thank police and National Guard troops who were dispatched to secure the area and have a Thanksgiving dinner with them.

"I appreciate the sacrifice that these law enforcement officers and citizen-soldiers are making, especially during this holiday weekend, in order to protect lives and property," Nixon said. "I would ask Missourians to join me in thanking these officers and guardsmen as they spend time away from their families this Thanksgiving weekend."

St. Louis County police said Wednesday they were looking for an AR-15 rifle stolen from a squad car that was set on fire during the first night of violent protests Monday in Ferguson.

"Rioters yanked out the high-powered police rifle and the rack in which it was stored," Sgt. Brian Schellman told KDSK-TV.

Members of a group calling itself Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir, a radical performance group from New York, serenaded National Guard troops protecting the police station. Billy Talen, who leads the group, called on Americans to take part in "blackout Black Friday" and boycott major retailers on this traditionally busy shopping weekend to show solidarity with Ferguson protesters.

"You have a racist killing police department," Talen said. "It goes with how society spends in its everyday life."

Earlier Wednesday, about 200 protesters gathered outside the Old Courthouse in nearby St. Louis to hold what they called "mock trials" for Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson and other central figures in the ongoing unrest here.

A small group entered the building shouting, "Shame, shame.'' Three were arrested for failing to disperse, and one of them was also charged with assault on a law enforcement officer, police said.

Police reinforcements were called in and the building locked down.

By Wednesday evening, only a small crowd of protesters stood outside the police station in Ferguson, a close-in suburb of St. Louis, as a cold rain turned to snow.

Tony Hall, 36, who came out for the protest a night earlier, said the nightly demonstrations are starting to wear on him physically. Nonetheless, he said he felt compelled to be there.

"I'm still angry and I'll still be angry about this 50 years from now," Hall said.

Despite the torching of a police car and scores of arrests, police said Wednesday that Tuesday night's protests in nearby Ferguson were smaller and less violent than the arson and widespread violence that initially rocked the city and area Monday after it was made public that a grand jury had declined to indict Wilson for the shooting death of Brown, 18.

The lone tense moment during Wednesday evening's demonstrations came when dozens of protesters marched about a half-mile north of the Ferguson police station and briefly blocked a roadway. The protesters were quickly dispersed by police.

"The ramped-up presence and action of the Missouri National Guard has been helpful,'' Nixon said Wednesday. "I will continue to monitor the situation closely to determine whether additional resources are necessary to protect public safety.''

In Ferguson during protests on Tuesday, officers used tear gas and pepper spray, and demonstrators set a squad car on fire and broke windows at the town's City Hall. .

Two guns, a Molotov cocktail and items thrown at officers were seized, police said.

Ron Johnson, Missouri State Highway Patrol captain, said officers had "not seen anything of this magnitude."

"We'll go back tonight and re-evaluate so we can have a better day tomorrow," he said.

Ferguson's mayor complained the National Guard deployed too late Monday to prevent destruction.

More than a dozen buildings burned Monday night, other businesses were looted and cars were set on fire. Belmar said there were 21 fires and 61 arrests, 32 for burglary. Three officers were injured in the mayhem, which was spread over four square miles.

St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch released more than 1,000 pages of documents and testimony from the grand jury proceedings.

That included testimony from Wilson, who said Brown attacked him in the patrol car, forcing him to shoot. Witnesses accounts differed on whether Brown's hands were raised, moments later, when Wilson fired the fatal shots on a Ferguson street, McCulloch said.

Wilson remains on administrative leave from the police force.

Contributing: Yamiche Alcindor, William M. Welch, USA TODAY