Correction: An earlier version of this article said that Ferguson, Mo., police had deployed tanks during earlier protests. Police used large tactical vehicles, not tanks.

Protesters, including Cornel West, second from right, march to the Ferguson, Mo., police station in Ferguson.

Oct. 13, 2014 Protesters, including Cornel West, second from right, march to the Ferguson, Mo., police station in Ferguson. Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

Activists march in the streets in Missouri to protest police brutality two months after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

Activists march in the streets in Missouri to protest police brutality two months after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

Activists march in the streets in Missouri to protest police brutality two months after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

Arms raised high in a chilly rain, waves of clergy, some standing, some on bended knee, pressed their bodies into a line of police officers Monday in the parking lot of the Ferguson Police Department.

Hours earlier, shortly before midnight, young protesters shut down a St. Louis intersection, playing hopscotch and jumping rope before joining others in a silent march to Saint Louis University, where, ultimately numbering nearly a 1,000, they staged a sit-in at the heart of campus.

And in the late afternoon, dozens of protesters stormed St. Louis City Hall, where they chanted, blew whistles, hung banners and ascended the marble steps demanding to see Mayor Francis Slay (D).

“Shut it down, shut it down,” they chanted.

“Be accountable or be gone!” read one banner.

Hundreds of protesters came together in St. Louis, Mo. in a gathering dubbed "Moral Monday," to demonstrate against the recent fatal shootings of two black teenagers by police. (The Washington Post)

The coordinated acts of civil disobedience called for the indictment of Darren Wilson, the white police officer who in August fatally shot Michael Brown, 18, black and unarmed. Police say Brown struggled with Wilson for his gun. Witnesses have said Brown had been trying to surrender when he was killed.

In a little more than two months, the raw and anguished response of a community that exploded onto the national stage with spontaneous and mostly peaceful protests — looters also joined the fray — appears to be in the middle of a transformation. That’s the hope, at least, of newly minted activists from this small suburb and some longtime social-justice warriors who see in Ferguson the possibilities of a sustained movement against police use of excessive force against African Americans.

Monday’s actions were part of a “weekend of resistance” that organizers dubbed Ferguson October. Led by Ferguson residents and others from the St. Louis area, the four-day event — including demonstrations and panel discussions on issues ranging from grief to fighting for meaningful change — has served as something of a calling card for many who want Brown’s death to be more than another tragedy.

“This is the real definition of resistance,” Dhoruba Shakur said through a bullhorn at the university sit-in. “This thing right here that we’re doing right now is not only a symbolism of what we can do when we stick together . . . it’s the beginning in a change in our consciousness as a people, as a human race.”

The crowd, which included hundreds who traveled from around the country to participate, cheered.

The end goal is to reform the local police force and larger justice system that has failed to hold officers accountable, said St. Louis resident Mary Chandler.

“Police reform needs to be up front. It’s something that needs to happen very soon,” she said. The civil disobedience is “going to continue until there is some type of reform and they have consequences for misuse of authority.”

Brown’s mother, Lesley Mc­Spadden, led a march Saturday. The parents of Vonderrit Myers Jr., another black 18-year-old killed by an off-duty officer last week after he said Myers shot at him, joined the march to the university.

There are plenty of unknowns ahead, the most immediate being the looming results of a grand jury that’s considering whether Wilson will face criminal charges in Brown’s death.

Some in Ferguson said they are skeptical of an indictment because of the relative rarity in which officers are charged with crimes for on-duty shootings and especially in the St. Louis metro area, where they said over the years there have been other egregious police shootings, including fatalities, and no accountability.

Whether their carefully constructed efforts for a peaceful and disciplined response will be crushed if there is no indictment, they can’t predict.

By early evening Monday, the St. Louis County Police Department said 43 arrests occurred during the protest at the Ferguson Police Department. It included scholar and activist Cornel West, who told activists over the weekend that he had come to town to be arrested. Six other people were arrested in another protest on West Florissant Avenue.

The protests were peaceful throughout Monday and much of the weekend, but not without tension.

Police also arrested 17 young demonstrators early Sunday morning when hundreds, some of whom left Ferguson and traveled to the St. Louis neighborhood where Myers was shot, staged a sit-in at a gas station.

Police and protesters disputed whether rocks were thrown at officers during a march. Officers did use pepper spray to clear some people who authorities said were in their way as they tried to reach the activists sitting-in on the private property.

As protesters marched to Saint Louis University, they were met by officers in helmets and body gear who held cans of pepper spray and smacked their shin guards with batons. Officers stood on the sidewalk and the street, threatening arrest.

At one point, a local minister called out, “Can you stop beating your sticks so you can talk to and hear the people you protect?”

Protest leaders demanded they be allowed to proceed on the public sidewalk, and several local ministers requested to speak with a commanding officer.

“This is an unlawful assembly,” an officer yelled.

“No. It’s not,” protesters responded. “This is a peaceful group of people silently walking on the sidewalk.”

The standoff lasted about 20 minutes before officers stepped aside.

As protesters have worked on being more strategic, police in St. Louis County, where Ferguson is located, have tried to tamp down their engagement with demonstrators overall. Immediately after Brown’s shooting, authorities drew national and international attention for police use of tear gas, large tactical vehicles and rubber bullets.

St. Louis Municipal Police Department Chief Sam Dotson heads one of the top departments in the area and is known for his efforts at community policing. His department has been trying to prepare for what might happen after the grand jury’s decision, no matter which way it goes. Some, he said, have received civil disobedience training.

On Monday, he said, officers “tapped” their police batons when protesters were ignoring or failed to hear multiple warnings from loudspeakers.

“It’s a technique used to get people’s attention, so they know it’s time to leave, so they know officers are going to take action, that they may face arrest,” Dotson said.

He bristled at protesters’ complaints, saying his officers have shown “great restraint” in the face of taunting from protesters. “The bottom line is last night, there were no arrests.”

Campus security ultimately also stepped aside and allowed marchers to proceed onto campus, imploring students to join them. Some did, rushing outside, some applauding, some taking pictures and others passing out bottles of water.

The university said in a statement later that it had, in consultation with city police and its own security team, decided that a non-confrontational approach was the correct response.

“These are unprecedented times for the St. Louis community, and Sunday and this morning, they arrived on our doorstep,” wrote SLU President Fred Pestello in a letter to students and parents on Monday. The protesters were “peaceful” and “respectful,” he wrote.

“Let us all pray for better days ahead,” he said.

Back in Ferguson, the clergy march began at Wellspring Church, then headed to the Ferguson Police Department, where they encountered a line of officers. There, the clergy said the crowd would be claiming the police department’s parking lot as public space to serve as a memorial and “sacred worship space,” to Brown.

Small groups of demonstrators, including clergy and Cornel West, one after another pushed through the line and were detained, handcuffed with zip ties.

“Protesters told police officers on scene multiple times they wanted to get arrested,” said St. Louis County police spokesman Brian Schellman. “Arrests were not made until protesters started bumping police officers’ shields and eventually forcing through the police skirmish line.”

Legal observers were on hand to make sure those being arrested knew who to contact for assistance.

At one point, as tensions mounted between demonstrators and officers, some leaders decided to pull back, confusing some participants and frustrating others who wanted to continue.

Nearly a dozen actions unfolded across the St. Louis area, including at several Wal-Marts, a Rams game and a political fundraiser.

“We are committed to continue to do whatever it is we have to do until this stuff changes. It has to change,” said the Rev. Ken Mc­Koy.