Ferguson protests ebb, but California demonstrations lead to 165 arrests

The throngs of protesters who overran Ferguson after the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case dwindled to just a few small groups as people began cleaning up this battered community and seeking something closer to a normal routine.

Scattered demonstrations continued Wednesday, including protesters who rushed into St. Louis City Hall screaming "Shame, shame." But the tension that led to arson and looting earlier in the week seemed all but gone, two days after the announcement that a white police officer would not face charges in the fatal shooting of the black 18-year-old.

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There were no reports of major confrontations or damage to property. St. Louis County police said there were only two arrests overnight.

There was more unrest in California than Missouri on the night.

Dozens of protesters in Los Angeles and Oakland were arrested late Wednesday during a third night of demonstrations linked to the shooting protest in Ferguson.

Police said at least 130 demonstrators who refused to disperse during a Los Angeles protest were arrested, while 35 people were detained in Oakland following a march that deteriorated into unrest and vandalism.

In Los Angeles, about 200 or 300 largely peaceful demonstrators crisscrossed downtown streets for several hours in the afternoon and evening over a decision not to bring criminal charges against a Ferguson policeman for killing a black man.

A police spokesman said an unlawful assembly was declared after some marchers began walking in the street and disrupting traffic. They were ordered to disperse but instead reformed, with police trying to corral them.

Back in Ferguson, business owners and residents covered up broken windows, cleared away debris and hoped that the relative calm would last into the Thanksgiving holiday.

In the St. Louis suburb's historic downtown, about a dozen people painted over boarded-up windows on businesses.

"This is my Ferguson, you know?" said Kari Hobbs, 28, as she watched 17-year-old Molly Rogers paint "Love Will Win" in bright pink on a board that covered a smashed window at Cathy's Kitchen, a restaurant not far from the Ferguson Police Department.

The footage people see on the news "is such a small bit of what's happening here," Hobbs said. "There's so much donation and charity going on with the businesses that have been affected and the people that have been affected."

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Dead man found near where Brown was killed

Troops with rifles were posted at intersections and parking lots in an area where stores were looted and burned Monday into Tuesday.

Since the grand jury's decision was announced, demonstrators have been active in other cities throughout the U.S.

Also Wednesday, authorities said a 20-year-old man whose body was found inside a car in Ferguson after Monday night's riots had been intentionally set on fire.

The death of Deandre Joshua of University City is being investigated as a homicide, but police have not said whether it's connected to the violence that broke out after the grand jury announcement.

Joshua's body was found Tuesday morning at the wheel of a car parked near the apartment complex where Brown was killed. An autopsy determined that he was shot once in the head.