National Guard troops entered the protest zone Monday night after a large crowd suddenly gathered at Ferguson and West Florissant avenues, ignoring police orders to disperse.
An hour later, the atmosphere remained tense in this St. Louis suburb, and tear gas and smoke wafted through the air. Several people were arrested.
For much of the day, demonstrations over the Aug. 9 police killing of Michael Brown had been peaceful. But about 10:15 p.m. the tenor changed.
About 100 people seemed to appear in the blocked-off street out of nowhere, and a few plastic water bottles flew through the air.
"You must disperse the street immediately," police announced via megaphone, telling the crowd to get on the sidewalk.
Instead, some protesters confronted police, and the National Guard moved in.
Many protesters got on the sidewalk and started walking away.
But a few dozen young men remained, even as local leaders tried to get them to comply. One leader, an older man, carried an armful of stuffed animals.
Police spread out in a thin line that filled the width of the four-lane street, marching slowly and trying to back up the defiant demonstrators.
Several people were arrested, including two women who were swarmed by about a dozen officers. CNN reported two arrests, including a man holding a milk bottle filled with pink liquid.
By about 11 p.m., some people remained in the street, but most of them appeared to be slowly walking away. A woman walked around with a big bag, collecting discarded water bottles. And a drunk man smelling of booze wandered the area, looking for a liquor store.
The disturbance apparently just moved down the street, however, and soon tear gas and smoke were visible.
The situation remained fluid.
Earlier Monday, the midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew was lifted after Gov. Jay Nixon ordered in the National Guard.
More details emerged about an autopsy of Brown. A pathologist commissioned by the Brown family said his preliminary autopsy suggested no sign of a struggle.
In Washington, President Obama said U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. would visit Ferguson on Wednesday, and Holder announced that FBI agents conducted several new interviews in the neighborhood where Brown was killed.
Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York medical examiner, said all but one of at least six gunshot wounds to Brown's body were probably survivable. Baden said he believed Brown, 18, would not have been able to survive the bullet that hit the top of his head and traveled through his brain.
At the White House, Obama repeated a call for calm in the community, and said the amount of military-style equipment that police forces had been receiving from the federal government needed to be reviewed.
Obama said the Justice Department would carefully monitor events in Ferguson and the use of Missouri National Guard units. The use of the National Guard should be "limited and appropriate," Obama said, noting that the decision to use the military units had been made by state officials.
It's important to ensure that "peaceful protesters" have an opportunity to air their grievances, Obama said. At the same time, he said, law enforcement officers need to be able to protect communities against people who are using the unrest as an excuse for looting or violence.
"Let's seek to heal rather than to wound each other," Obama said at the White House.
He decried a "gulf of mistrust" between residents and police that exists in "too many communities."
Holder did not identify the new FBI leads and said more than 40 FBI agents were canvassing the neighborhood where Brown was shot. He said a third autopsy on Brown's body was being performed Monday "by one of the most experienced medical examiners in the United States military."
The attorney general requested the public's patience during the Justice Department's investigation, but he voiced concern about the separate state investigation.
"The selective release of sensitive information that we have seen in this case so far is troubling to me. No matter how others pursue their own separate inquiries," he said, "the Justice Department is resolved to preserve the integrity of its investigation."
When Obama appeared on television at a McDonald's restaurant on West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Andrew Williams urged the crowd to pay attention.
Williams, 59, of Ferguson was encouraged to hear the president say the National Guard would be acting in a supportive role.
"We don't want to have a military state," said Williams, a retired postal manager who served in the Army in Vietnam. He said the demonstrators who had been participating in violence were mostly from out of town. "A lot of people just want to get on television. The bad seeds are coming into the area."
Although Ferguson will not be under a curfew Monday night, police told demonstrators — some waving roses at dusk — that they needed to keep moving and avoid congregating on sidewalks and parking lots.
A midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew had been in effect early Sunday and Monday as officials sought to quell unrest. But each night demonstrators clashed with police and troopers, who used tear gas to disperse the crowd. At least two people were shot overnight Sunday and seven people were arrested, and officials managing the police response complained they were pelted with bottles and Molotov cocktails as gunshots rang out.
Police said there were signs of a planned and coordinated attempt Sunday night to disrupt the St. Louis suburb and launch an advance on the police command post not far from the scene of Brown's death.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon issued an executive order Monday to bring in the National Guard. Its "limited mission" will be to protect the command post so local law enforcement officials can protect peaceful demonstrators, he said in a statement. Community and civic leaders who have been in Ferguson for the recent demonstrations told reporters Monday that they were worried about another challenging night.
"We don't want a repeat of last night," said Akbar Muhammad of the Nation of Islam, who is based in St. Louis County.
Malik Shabazz, a former New Black Panthers leader who has been working in Ferguson trying to keep demonstrations peaceful, said he thought the National Guard would exacerbate the situation. "We have a tough job tonight," he said, adding that he didn't want peaceful demonstrations "overshadowed by agents and provocateurs."
On West Florissant Avenue, Toriano Johnson, a barber at Prime Time Barbershop, said the curfew backfired.
"You're trying to shut people up. That's not going to work," he said. "You can move them around, but it's still going to be a movement until justice is served."
Appearing Monday before reporters in the sanctuary of the Greater St. Mark Family Church in St. Louis, Baden and three of the Brown family attorneys displayed the diagram of Brown's wounds that was released with the autopsy.
Attorney Benjamin Crump said the family asked for the independent autopsy because of uncertainty at the time over whether federal officials would conduct their own examination of Brown's body.
"They did not want to be left having to rely on the autopsy done by the St. Louis law enforcement agencies, the same individuals they feel are responsible for executing their son in broad daylight," Crump said.
"It answers just the basic questions," Crump said, "the number of shots, which was always a question that not only the family had, but the citizens of Ferguson and people all over the country."
Crump said Baden's work so far was a "very preliminary" report. "We have to get all the witness statements out and look at all the autopsies, all the evidence, to put this picture together," he said.
Police have said Brown was shot after confronting Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson inside his police car. But at least one witness who was with Brown that afternoon has said Brown was shot as he walked away from the officer with his hands raised, then was struck by additional bullets.
Two of the gunshot wounds were graze wounds, Baden said Monday, and two may have been reentry wounds.
Baden said he performed the autopsy at a funeral home after Brown's body had been embalmed, so he was unable to collect blood samples for toxicology screening — something that was done during the initial autopsy by the St. Louis County medical examiner.
The forensic expert said he was awaiting the results of that screening, which could take several weeks. He also plans to review Brown's clothing and X-rays taken of Brown's body before the initial autopsy was performed.
Baden also said there were abrasions on the right side of Brown's face, which he believes occurred when Brown was struck in the head with a bullet and fell to the ground. Baden's report suggested that Brown was shot from a distance of at least one to two feet, but he said he needed access to Brown's clothing before he could make a more definitive determination.
Hennessy-Fiske and Susman reported from Ferguson and Raab from Los Angeles.
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times9:26 p.m.: This story has been updated with tear gas fired.
8:58 p.m.: This story was updated with more details, including arrests.
8:25 p.m.: This story was updated to include more details about the standoff.
8:08 p.m.: This story was updated to include National Guard troops moving in.
6:23 p.m.: The story was updated throughout with new details.
2:48 p.m.: This post has been updated to add a response to President Obama's remarks by Ferguson resident Andrew Williams.
2:25 p.m.: This post has been updated to add President Obama's remarks.
12:43 p.m.: This post has been updated with community reactions from Ferguson.
11:30 a.m.: This post has been updated to say Ferguson won't be under curfew Monday night and to add comments from the Missouri governor about the Missouri National Guard's mission in the city.
10:41 a.m.: This post has been updated to add details from outside the Ferguson police station.
9:49 a.m.: This post has been updated to add details from the news conference.
8:55 a.m.: This post has been updated with a news conference concerning the autopsy commissioned by the Brown family and additional details and background throughout.
This post was originally published at 7:28 a.m.
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