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 A few dozen demonstrators, some chanting "Indict that cop",
gathered outside the city police station late on Wednesday in
sub-freezing temperatures.
They were faced by officers in riot gear and the arrests were the
first in about a week, suggesting tensions were on the rise ahead of
the trial ruling.
The grand jury has been meeting for three months to determine
whether police officer Darren Wilson broke the law when he shot and
killed 18-year-old Michael Brown in an incident that exposed
long-simmering racial tensions in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson,
Missouri.
Weeks of sometimes violent protests followed Brown's death, and
businesses and schools around Ferguson are bracing for another wave
of unrest, particularly if the grand jury does not charge Wilson.
Its decision is expected by month's end.
 Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency and
called up the National Guard to back up local police, a move some
activists criticized as heavy-handed. The Ferguson area has seen few
protests over the past week, and all have been peaceful.
Police in the St. Louis area have been through conflict
de-escalation training since August and activist leaders have also
been training potential protesters in non-violent civil disobedience
techniques.
Activists across the United States planned to stage their own
rallies at federal courthouses from New York to Los Angeles.
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The National Action Network, a group founded by Al Sharpton, a
longtime New York civil rights activists, said demonstrations would
occur regardless of the grand jury's decision, with protesters
calling for federal charges against Wilson if he does not face local
charges.
There are differing accounts of what happened when Wilson shot Brown
on Aug. 9. Some witnesses said Brown had his hands up in surrender,
while others described a violent scuffle between the two.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Peter Cooney and Crispian
Balmer)
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