FERGUSON, Missouri: Police have fired multiple smoke canisters into a crowd of defiant protesters in a St. Louis suburb where a black teen had been shot by a white police officer while walking down the street.

Hundreds of other protesters left peacefully before the midnight to 5 a.m. deadline took effect in Ferguson, Missouri early Sunday morning.

But remaining protesters — chanting “No justice! No curfew!” — refused to leave the area. As five armored tactical vehicles approached the crowd, officers spoke through a loudspeaker: “You are in violation of a state-imposed curfew. You must disperse immediately. Failure to comply, may result in arrest.”

As officers put on gas masks, a chant from the distant crowd emerged: “We have the right to assemble peacefully.”

A moment later, police began firing smoke into the crowd of protesters.