Protests in Ferguson, Missouri, were muted for a third straight evening on Friday as National Guard troops began withdrawing from the St. Louis suburb, racked by nearly two weeks of racial turmoil after a white police officer shot an unarmed black teenager to death.

Dozens of protesters marched along a street near the site of the Aug. 9 slaying of 18-year-old Michael Brown, chanting, "Hands up, don't shoot." The acting police commander, a black highway patrol captain placed in charge a week earlier, ventured out to greet demonstrators.

Clergy volunteers wearing bright orange T-shirts mingled with the marchers to help keep the crowd calm.