NEW YORK
A state of emergency was declared Monday in the city of Ferguson after a night of protests that turned violent.
A man was critically injured Sunday night in an exchange of gunfire with police officers at a rally to mark the first anniversary of the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer.
Two others were also shot in a drive-by shooting overnight.
"In light of last night’s violence and unrest in the city of Ferguson, and the potential for harm to persons and property, I am exercising my authority as county executive to issue a state of emergency, effective immediately," St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger said in a written statement.
"The recent acts of violence will not be tolerated in a community that has worked so tirelessly over the last year to rebuild and become stronger," he added.
Sunday's violence followed a day of peaceful protests and remembrance, in which hundreds of demonstrators observed a four-and-a-half-minute silence in memory of the slain teen.
On Monday, protesters took to the streets of St. Louis for a second day of marches, in which more than 100 demonstrators marched to the Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse at noon.
Attempting to enter the building, at least 50 protesters jumped over police barricade sat down and linked arms as police looked on, St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper reported.
Dozens of protesters who demanded the dissolution of the Ferguson Police Department were arrested, said the newspaper.
Among the detained was renowned black social commentator Cornel West, according to the Ferguson Action activist group.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch condemned what she said was "violence against the community, including police officers" in Ferguson over the weekend.
"As we have seen over the recent months and years, not only does violence obscure any message of peaceful protest, it places the community, as well as the officers who seek to protect it, in harm’s way," she said in a statement.
Eighteen-year-old Michael Brown's death in Ferguson ignited months of fierce street protests and saw fighting between police and protesters, making the small Missouri city a focal point of a national debate on race relations and allegations of police brutality.
