Crowds respond positively after county police who used teargas and rubber bullets are replaced on governor’s orders

A wall of militarised police had blocked the centre of Ferguson, Missouri, this week, shooting teargas and rubber bullets at seething protesters who dared to show any defiance.

On Thursday evening it melted away. A carnival-like demonstration filled the centre of the city after a new police chief given control of protests over the killing of an unarmed 18-year-old implemented a dramatic shift in tactics. Hundreds of people gathered at the same intersection in this northern suburb of St Louis that has been the epicentre of violent clashes with police in the previous days. But where the officers with assault rifles once stood, backed by armoured trucks topped with snipers’ nests, on Thursday there was almost no police presence.

Car horns filled the air as people blew whistles and chanted “no justice, no peace” and “hands up, don’t shoot”, the slogan adopted in solidarity with Michael Brown, who according to witnesses was shot by a police officer as he fled a confrontation with his arms aloft on Saturday afternoon.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson speaks to a protester wearing a “Guy Fawkes” mask. Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

The shift followed the installation of Captain Ron Johnson of the Missouri state highway patrol as the effective commander on the ground, under orders earlier in the day from the state governor, Jay Nixon. His force replaced the St Louis county police in leading the operation.



“I think they are just being given a chance to express what they are feeling, and they don’t feel like that is trying to be taken away,” Johnson told the Guardian, as he kept watch while the demonstration formed. “That’s our approach, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.



“Sometimes you just have to let people speak and make yourself listen. I used to tell my kids when they were small, open up your listening ears.”

Johnson briefly led a march of demonstrators through the city, saying he was proud to walk with the largely African American crowd.



Residents have said Brown’s killing stoked racial tensions that have long simmered between the majority black population and the mostly white police force. Asked how he was managing to get his message through to demonstrators, Johnson said: “I know a lot of them”. He added: “We have to be reflective of our community.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Captain Ron Johnson hugs a demonstrator after taking over the policing of protests in Ferguson, Missouri. Photograph: David Carson/AP

“It’s just so different, said Rena Perry, 33. “The other nights the police were over there and we was over here. It was a war. This new guy has changed the atmosphere.”



Speaking at a press conference earlier, Johnson refused to rule out using the military-style equipment that drew sharp criticism from the state’s senior senator, Claire McCaskill, and a plea for calm from Barack Obama, who said there was “no excuse” for excessive force by police.



However he signalled his intent was to rid Ferguson’s streets of the teargas, rubber bullets and pepperballs that have been shot at dozens of demonstrators this week. “Before I came here today, I had all my troopers take their teargas masks off their belts,” he told reporters.



As evening began several of the few police officers who were present were chatting with demonstrators and residents – an unthinkable sight over the past four nights.

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“We appreciate them being out here,” said Major Ronnie Robinson. “They are seeking justice and that’s what they’re going to get.



“Any time a community and a people are willing to break the law to get the law, you’ve gotta pay attention to that,” said Robinson. “They have cried out to us and now we need to give them the attention they deserve.”



Some remained unconvinced. A small group of young men wearing matching red bandanas across their faces and St Louis Cardinals baseball caps pledged to continue clashing with police and rejected the change in tone.

“It doesn’t matter that the dude has a black face,” said Kloud, 25. “They’re all cops.” However the majority of people expressed cautious optimism that the peace could hold as calm reigned at 8.30pm.