Although there was no tear gas deployed Tuesday night in Ferguson, tensions remained high as police advanced on protesters gathering near the local McDonalds. At least 47 people were arrested, mostly for failure to disperse; police also used pepper spray on a handful of protesters. Multiple journalists reported that police surrounded protesters that were gathering at McDonalds and started arrests after a water bottle was thrown.

Activist Rosa Clemente wrote a harrowing account of Tuesday night’s events on the streets of Ferguson as the police pointed guns and threatened to shoot her and a group of protesters after police attempted to disperse the crowd. Clemente’s group included Talib Kweli, Jessica Care Moore, Phil Agnew of the Dream Defenders, Malik Rhassan of Occupy My Hood, and more. The police surrounded the group with guns drawn, ordered everyone to lie down and told the group that if they "did no stop moving [they] would be shot," Clemente writes. At one point, a young man in the group named Devin was having trouble breathing:

"The young brother lying on my feet as I was holding him was not able to control his breathing he said "I’m choking" the cop told him to stop or he would shoot him. I told him "try not to move, just lay still I got you." The gun was at his chest. I looked at the cop and said "please, he is not doing anything. I tried to record but the cop had his finger on the trigger. I could feel Talib’s hand on my back and Jessica behind me. We laid there until one Black officer said "Let them go, we got who we wanted." In all my life I have never been so terrified. The young brother Devin said thank you I think you saved my life."

Clemente ended the account by adding, "this is a war zone, a military occupation and our children are the cannon fodder."