Some arrests during mostly peaceful Ferguson protests

FERGUSON, Mo. --Police arrested nearly two dozen people in Ferguson during a fourth consecutive night of demonstrations marking the anniversary of the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

The gathering that stretched into early Tuesday morning came a day after a protest along West Florissant Avenue that was interrupted by gunfire and a police shooting that left an 18-year-old critically injured. The violence set the St. Louis suburb on edge and had protest leaders worried about whether tensions would escalate.

St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger declared a state of emergency, which authorized county Police Chief Jon Belmar to take control of police emergency management in and around Ferguson.

By early Monday evening, hundreds of people had gathered. They marched up and down West Florissant, the thoroughfare that was the site of massive protests and rioting after Brown was fatally shot last year in a confrontation with a Ferguson police officer.

The protesters chanted, beat drums and carried signs. When some in the group moved into a traffic lane, officers in riot gear forced people out of the street. Some demonstrators threw water bottles and other debris at officers.

Belmar told The Associated Press: "They're not going to take the street tonight. That's not going to happen."

County police spokesman Shawn McGuire said approximately 23 arrests were made, though police were still confirming official totals.

There were no shots fired and no burglaries, looting or property damage during the protest, McGuire said in a statement. No smoke or tear gas was used, and no police or civilians reported injuries, he said.

Ferguson resident Hershel Myers Jr., 46, criticized the police response as aggressive and unnecessary.

A military veteran, he added, "It's wrong for me to have to go overseas and fight with Army across my chest, but we can't fight on our own street where I live."

By 1 a.m., the crowd and police presence along West Florissant had been begun to diminish.

At one point, several members of a militia-style group known as the Oath Keepers showed up carrying assault weapons.

One called group members constitutionalists and said they were hired to protect reporters working for InfoWars.com, a web site run by radio host Alex Jones.

On their website, the Oath Keepers describe themselves as "a non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, police, and first responders who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to 'defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic."'

In a statement, Belmar called their presence "both unnecessary and inflammatory." St. Louis County police and prosecutors told CBS News said they would consult about the legality of openly displaying the weapons during a state of emergency.

Protests also spilled outside of Ferguson earlier Monday. Almost 60 people, including scholar and civil rights activist Cornel West, were arrested around midday for blocking the entrance to the federal courthouse in downtown St. Louis.

Separately, a large group of activists sprawled across Interstate 70 between St. Louis and St. Charles counties during evening rush hour and shut it down for about a half-hour, reports CBS St. Louis affiliate KMOV-TV. Authorities reported 64 arrests. Protest organizers said the goal was to grab people's attention and highlight important issues such as equality of opportunity and racial disparities.

At the protest that began Sunday night in Ferguoson, tensions escalated after several hundred people gathered in the street, ignoring repeated warnings to get to the sidewalk or face arrest. Then, several gunshots suddenly rang out from an area near a strip of stores, including some that had been looted moments earlier. The shots sent protesters and reporters running for cover.

Belmar said he believed there were six shooters, including 18-year-old Tyrone Harris Jr., who Belmar said then opened fire on officers.

Police had been watching Harris during the protest out of concern that he was armed, the chief said.

During the gunfire, Harris crossed the street and apparently spotted plainclothes officers arriving in an unmarked van with distinctive red and blue police lights, Belmar said. The suspect allegedly shot into the windshield of the van.

The four officers in the van fired back, then pursued the suspect on foot. The suspect again fired on the officers when he became trapped in a fenced-in area, the chief said, and all four opened fire.

Harris was in critical condition after surgery. Prosecutors announced 10 charges against him - five counts of armed criminal action, four counts of first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and a firearms charge. All 10 are felonies.

All four officers in the van, each wearing protective vests, escaped injury. They were not wearing body cameras, Belmar said.

Harris' father called the police version of events "a bunch of lies." He said two girls who were with his son told him he was unarmed and had been drawn into a dispute involving two groups of young people.

Tyrone Harris Sr. told The Associated Press his son was a close friend of Michael Brown and was in Ferguson on Sunday night to pay respects.

The elder Harris said his son got caught up in a dispute among two groups of young people and was "running for his life" after gunfire broke out.

"My son was running to the police to ask for help, and he was shot," he said. "It's all a bunch of lies ... They're making my son look like a criminal."

Online court records show that Tyrone Harris Jr. was charged in November with stealing a motor vehicle and a gun, as well as resisting arrest by fleeing. A court hearing in that case is scheduled for Aug. 31.

Belmar said the suspect who fired on officers had a semi-automatic 9 mm gun that was stolen last year from Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

The police chief drew a distinction between the shooters and the protesters.

"They were criminals," he said of those involved in gunfire. "They weren't protesters."

Gov. Jay Nixon agreed, saying in a statement that such "reprehensible acts must not be allowed to silence the voices of peace and progress."