Arrests made as protesters target Ferguson police

Hundreds of protesters converged in the pouring rain on the Ferguson, Missouri, police department on Monday as they launched another day of demonstrations over the August killing by police of an unarmed black teenager.

Some protesters attempted to block a door to police headquarters and faced off with law enforcement officers wearing riot gear. Amid the tense standoff, some protesters sang "We Shall Overcome," an anthem of the civil rights movement half a century ago.

Police arrested a handful of protesters outside police headquarters, including author and academic Cornel West. Protesters have numbered in the thousands at some events since Friday in the St. Louis area. 

Chanting "Back lives matter" and other slogans, protesters joined in prayer at a local church before marching to the nearby police department, a target for many who have expressed outrage over the Aug. 9 killing of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African-American, by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who is white. 

A grand jury is considering whether to indict Wilson, 28. 

Protesters arrived in St. Louis late last week for a Weekend of Resistance, drawing attention to Brown’s case and that of Vonderrit Myers Jr.

Nearly two months after Wilson shot unarmed Brown — setting off heavy protests in the majority-black St. Louis suburb — a white off-duty St. Louis officer last week shot and killed teenager Myers. Police said the youth had opened fire.

Weekend protesters reiterated calls for reform in how police departments across the country treat black Americans.

At the center of Sunday's Weekend of Resistance activities was a mass meeting at St. Louis University's Chaifetz Arena. It involved residents, protesters, activists and clergy and featured a debate over approaches to handling the public outrage that followed Brown's killing. The night ended with younger voices in the group calling to do whatever it took to be heard and asking attendees to take part in civil disobedience actions after the event.

Officers in riot gear beat their batons on the ground Monday morning in unison as they faced off against the marchers before letting them peacefully walk on.

Hundreds of activists traveled from across the United States to join the four days of protests organized by the umbrella organization Ferguson October. Organizers said the event would culminate in mass rallies on what they called Moral Monday.

"I came here to go to jail," West told hundreds of people who turned out at Chaifetz Arena.

On Sunday police arrested 17 protesters staging a sit-in at the entrance to a convenience store early Sunday in St. Louis' Shaw neighborhood, where Myers was killed Wednesday. Authorities also used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters over the weekend. 

The two Missouri shootings have focused global attention on the state of race relations in the U.S. and have evoked memories of other racially charged cases, including the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, a black 17-year-old, in Florida in 2012.

Al Jazeera and wire services. David Douglas contributed to this report.