St. Louis, December 30 (RHC)-- Police in the United States once again clashed with protesters over the weekend who were angry at widespread police brutality and the racial profiling of African-Americans.

About 125 demonstrators marched in St. Louis, Missouri to the Gateway Arch monument. Scuffles broke out as security guards barricaded the entrance in an attempt to stop the protesters' access to the landmark site. The protesters holding signs with slogans including “Black Lives Matter,” also briefly blocked nearby streets and intersections, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Many protesters had the names of Black people killed by police written on tape that they put over their mouths or on their clothes, the newspaper said. “We are marching for justice. Black lives do matter. The justice we are seeking has to happen now,” Bishop Derek Robinson told CBS News in St. Louis.

The killing of several unarmed Black men by white police officers in recent months and decisions by grand juries not to indict some of the officers has triggered large-scale protests across the United States.

Protests gained momentum when a grand jury decided in December not to indict officer Daniel Pantaleo in Eric Garner's chokehold death in New York City, two weeks after another grand jury in St. Louis decided not to indict former policeman Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.

The unnecessary use of heavy-handed tactics by police as well as the racial profiling of some minorities has become a major concern across the U.S. in recent years. Police shoot and kill an average of 1,000 people a year in the United States, according to a report by the Police Policy Studies Council, a research-based, training and consultation corporation.