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Dozens of protesters faced off with police in riot gear in downtown St. Louis Friday after blocking a bus filled with officers, reports CBS News.

The protests came after a judge announced that former police officer Jason Stockley was not guilty of first-degree murder in the 2011 death of 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith.

Hundreds of protesters marched through city streets. Immediately following the verdict, some protesters shouted, "If we can't get no justice y'all can't get no peace!" and burned a St. Louis Cardinals sweatshirt, according to a reporter for CBS St. Louis affiliate KMOV-TV.

A smaller group stood in front of a city bus filled with officers in riot gear, blocking it from moving forward. The bus backed up and protesters again tried to stop it, with a few throwing water bottles. The bus moved less than a block before police in riot gear began pushing back the crowd.

As protesters resisted, two women told The Associated Press that police used pepper spray. Both women's faces had been doused with milk, which is used to counter the effects of pepper spray.

The police also said on Twitter that rocks were thrown at buses carrying officers and a man was arrested for damaging a police vehicle.

Protester efforts at civil disobedience were largely unsuccessful. When several demonstrators tried to rush onto Interstate 64, they were blocked on an entrance ramp by police cars and officers on bikes. When they tried to enter the city's convention center, the doors were locked.