JOSHUA LOTT/AFP/Getty Images Demonstrators protesting the shooting death of Michael Brown and 18-year-old Vonderrit Myers Jr. kneel as they face police officers in riot gear in St. Louis, Mo., early Sunday.

St. Louis cops arrested 17 protesters over the weekend as they prepared for more heated rallies regarding the fatal shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson, Mo.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson wrote on Twitter that some protesters at a Quicktrip gas station were “attempting to storm” the business and “throwing rocks at police.”

The gathering occurred near the south St. Louis neighborhood where another black 18-year-old was recently killed by a white police officer.