St. Louis police, protesters clash as city braces for further unrest

State senator wants federal investigation of fatal shooting

Police clashed with protesters in St. Louis on Thursday for a second night after an officer killed a black teenager, ahead of a weekend of planned rallies in the area over the August killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown.

Throughout the night, as many as 400 demonstrators spread out across several city blocks in south St. Louis, angrily shouting and chanting at rows of police officers, many of whom wore riot gear.

Dozens of protesters had met earlier at the site in the Shaw neighborhood where 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers Jr. was shot dead on Wednesday by an off-duty white officer working for a private security firm in what police described as a gunbattle.

The demonstrations grew increasingly chaotic. At one point early on Friday morning, a line of police pushed toward a group of several dozen protesters who jeered and cursed at them, pepper-spraying those who refused to disperse.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said that at one point during the tense protest, someone behind the massive crowd threw a knife that struck an officer's body vest at the shoulder.

He added that a police car and several businesses and residences had been damaged and that US flags were burned. Two people had been arrested by midnight local time, Dotson said, and one officer suffered minor injuries.

The St. Louis area is bracing for further unrest over the killing of Brown by a white police officer two months ago, with Myers' death on Wednesday expected to add fuel to the fire.

A state senator and other black leaders on Thursday called for the Justice Department to investigate the fatal shooting.

"This here was racial profiling turned deadly," state Senator Jamilah Nasheed said.

The St. Louis Democrat said that in addition to requesting a Justice Department investigation, she will ask Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to appoint a special panel to look into concerns about profiling and police use of deadly force.

The Justice Department is already investigating the shooting of Brown on Aug 9 in Ferguson, Missouri, where Brown was killed.

A state grand jury is still deciding whether Darren Wilson, the white officer who shot the 18-year-old, will face charges.

Several civil rights organizations and protest groups, including Hands Up United, planned to mark the weekend with marches and rallies in St. Louis and the suburb of Ferguson.

The groups are demanding the arrest of the officer who killed Brown, and they want to draw attention to police treatment of black Americans.

"We never advocate violence. ... But I do know that people were angry last night and they will be out this weekend," said Tory Russell, a leader of Hands Up United. "I don't know what they are going to do."

At least 6,000 have registered on an organizing website for the "weekend of resistance" events in and around Ferguson, which kick off on Friday with a "Justice Now" march to the office of St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch.

Reuters - AP