FERGUSON, Mo. -- More than 50 people were arrested Monday during protests against the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown and others.
Pounding rain and tornado watches didn't deter hundreds of protesters who stayed outside Ferguson police headquarters for more than four hours Monday, the same amount of time that Brown's body was left in the street after he was fatally shot by a police officer Aug. 9.
Organizers of the four-day protests dubbed the day "Moral Monday" and committed acts of civil disobedience across the St. Louis region. In addition to the initial march on Ferguson police headquarters, protesters blocked the entrance to a major employer, held a loud rally inside St. Louis City Hall, disrupted business at a Ferguson shopping center and a Wal-Mart and tried to crash a private fundraiser for a St. Louis County executive candidate where U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill was scheduled to appear. On Monday night, protesters announced plans to picket a second Wal-Mart in the St. Louis suburbs.
Ferguson police spokesman Tim Zoll said 42 people were arrested at the Ferguson police station. Some protesters used a bullhorn to read the names of people killed by police nationwide. Among the first taken into custody was Cornel West, an author and professor, who told the line of officers, "We're here because we love the young folks." Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergy members -- some of whom were among the first arrested -- led a prayer service before marching to the station two blocks away.
Six others were later arrested for failing to disperse after blocking a street. One man was arrested on property-damage charges during a separate rally at St. Louis City Hall.
An outline of a body was drawn on the ground -- a reminder, organizers said, of Brown but also of the scores of other people killed by police officers.
"Black lives matter!" the crowd chanted. "All lives matter!"
Protests have been common since Brown, who was black, was killed by a white police officer. But tensions escalated last week when a white police officer in nearby St. Louis shot and killed black 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers Jr., who police said shot at officers before he was killed.
"My faith compels me to be here," said Bishop Wayne Smith of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. "I want to show solidarity and call attention to the structural racism of St. Louis."
Protesters were met by about 40 officers in riot gear. Several clergy members approached individual Ferguson officers and asked them to "repent" for Brown's killing and other acts of violence. Some officers engaged the protesters, while others ignored the efforts.
"My heart feels that this has been going on too long," Ferguson officer Ray Nabzdyk told the clergy. "We all stand in fault because we didn't address this."
At St. Louis City Hall, about 100 protesters blew whistles that echoed off the marble walls. Protest leader Kennard Williams presented a list of four demands to Jeff Rainford, chief of staff for Mayor Francis Slay. Slay was not in the office Monday.
The demands called for body cameras for all officers, a civilian review board for police, mandatory independent investigations whenever police kill someone and an end to participation in a program providing military equipment to police.
In St. Louis, not far from the neighborhood where Myers was killed, hundreds of protesters marched for blocks through fog then announced staging a sit-down on the campus of Saint Louis University.
The group had marched for more than an hour. Many protesters left after organizers announced plans for a sit-in and called for food and tents. While police officers, wearing riot gear and standing in a line, had confronted protesters as they walked along Grand Boulevard, the officers ultimately stepped away and allowed the crowd to walk on. Samuel Dotson, chief of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, looked on as the protesters filled the clock tower area, saying, "Everybody has a right to do this."
A small group held a brief demonstration inside the upscale Plaza Frontenac shopping center in St. Louis County. Another group was turned away by police and security at a Ferguson Wal-Mart, but the store closed out of concern about the protest.
County police spokesman Brian Schellman said Monday night that several protesters were arrested there but could not provide a precise total. He added that an unspecified number of additional arrests were made at the Webster Groves fundraiser for County Councilman Steve Stenger, a Democrat who has come under criticism for his political links to St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch.
Information for this article was contributed by Alan Scher Zagier and Jim Salter of The Associated Press and by Monica Davey, Alan Blinder and Billy Witz of The New York Times.
A Section on 10/14/2014