About 150 people have been arrested during several days of protests around Ferguson, Missouri, where largely peaceful demonstrations over police shootings of unarmed black men have been punctuated by flashes of violence.
Police said on Tuesday that 22 people had been arrested overnight in Ferguson and another 63 were arrested for trying to block a highway.
On Monday, 57 people were arrested for passing barricades that blocked a federal court in St. Louis.
A state of emergency declared on Monday was still in effect for the Ferguson area.
Meanwhile four carrying military-style rifles and sidearms patrolled a riot-torn street in Ferguson, Missouri, early Tuesday, saying they were there to protect a media organisation but drawing swift criticism from police and protesters alike, Reuters reported.
The appearance of the four men, all white, who identified themselves as “ Oath Keepers,” quickly drew stares in the mostly black neighborhood, which exploded into violence again on Sunday night as protesters marked the police killing of an unarmed black teen a year ago.
The men identified themselves as part of a group called “Oath Keepers,” which describes itself as an association of current and former U.S. soldiers and police who aim to protect the U.S. Constitution.
The Southern Poverty Law Centre, a non-profit civil rights organisation, has described the “Oath Keepers” as a “fiercely anti-government, militaristic group,” and St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar condemned their appearance in Ferguson.
Police carrying shields rushed into a crowd of protesters around midnight, prompting many to scream and run away. Twenty-three people were arrested, some for throwing frozen water bottles and rocks at officers, according to the St. Louis County Police Department.
Authorities declared a state of emergency on Monday for the St. Louis suburb and surrounding areas after police officers shot and critically wounded a man in an exchange of gunfire Sunday night, marring what had been a day of peaceful demonstrations to commemorate the anniversary.
Ferguson resident Roberta Lynch, 51, one of the demonstrators on Monday evening, said relations between police and the community had improved little over the past year.
“They are doing the same old stuff, taking our rights,” Lynch said. “They need to give us our space.”
Monday’s demonstrations capped a day of civil disobedience called by activists to protest against the shooting of Brown and other unarmed black men by police across the United States.
Clergy and civil rights groups led a series of protests, staging a demonstration at a courthouse in St. Louis where 60 people were arrested, including Princeton University professor and activist Cornel West, according to a protest organizer.
Police arrested several dozen other protesters who blocked rush-hour traffic on Interstate 70 a few miles from Ferguson hours later, according to a Reuters witness.
The death of Brown and a grand jury’s decision to spare the white officer from criminal charges provoked a wave of demonstrations that boiled over into rioting and arson at times and spawned sympathy rallies across the country.
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