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Powerful Ferguson images show St. Louis suburb as a war zone

Cops in riot gear faced off against protesters in images captured in Ferguson, Mo., following the shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown.

By Gabrielle Levy
Protesters are greeted by a wall of police officers after a march to the Ferguson Police department in Ferguson, Missouri on August 11, 2014. People are upset because of the Ferguson Police shooting and death of an unarmed black teenager Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. In all about 20 businesses sustained damage after a candlelight vigil turned violent. UPI/Bill Greenblatt
1 of 5 | Protesters are greeted by a wall of police officers after a march to the Ferguson Police department in Ferguson, Missouri on August 11, 2014. People are upset because of the Ferguson Police shooting and death of an unarmed black teenager Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. In all about 20 businesses sustained damage after a candlelight vigil turned violent. UPI/Bill Greenblatt | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- As the sun set on the fifth day of protests following the fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Mo., powerful images of protesters facing off with heavily armed police have flooded social media.

In the St. Louis suburb where 67 percent of the population is black but 94 percent of the police force is white, scenes of cops dressed in riot gear, firing rubber bullets and lobbing tear gas at protesters are drawing comparisons to Iraq and the worst moments of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

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Police said protesters threw bottles and Molotov cocktails, and made at least 10 arrests overnight Wednesday into Thursday. Two reporters, Wesley Lowry of the Washington Post and Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post, were also arrested while reporting out of a Ferguson McDonald's, and were later released without police writing up the arrests.

Protesters chanted "hands up! Don't shoot," mimicking some of the last words of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old black teen whose death sparked the unrest. Brown reportedly had his hands over his head, pleading with the still-unnamed officer to "don't shoot!" when he was killed.

The meme even spread beyond Ferguson.

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Below are some of the images captured by reporters, protesters and bystanders in Ferguson Wednesday night and posted to Twitter.

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