Six Missouri residents filed a federal lawsuit Thursday alleging excessive force and false arrests by the Ferguson and St. Louis County police departments during the street protests that followed the shooting death of Michael Brown.

Among the allegations:

–Dewayne Matthews Jr. says he had his hands up when police officers in riot gear pelted him with rubber bullets, slammed his face into the concrete and doused him with a chemical spray.

–Tracey White and her 13-year-old son were waiting to leave a McDonald’s, she says, when police stormed the restaurant and arrested them without cause.

–Damon Coleman and Theophilus Green say they were part of a peaceful protest in Ferguson on Aug. 11. Confronted by officers clad in riot gear, the two men shouted “hands up, don’t shoot,” the refrain that became a battle cry for demonstrators. Police responded with rubber bullets, tear gas, stun grenades, racial slurs and a beatdown.

In the days that followed, police “took up arms, and in militaristic displays of force and weaponry, engaged U.S. citizens as if they were war combatants,” according to the 30-page court filing.

The lawsuit seeks millions in damages for alleged abuses that took place between Aug. 11 and 13.

Authorities have said Wilson fired in self-defense after Brown attacked him. Several witnesses as well as Brown’s family have said Brown was gunned down as he tried to surrender.

The shooting sparked nearly two weeks of protests in Ferguson in which clouds of tear gas and the sight of police in riot gear threatened to become a nightly routine. More than 200 people were arrested, and many questioned the swift and at times forceful response of officers as they attempted to quell unrest.

A grand jury has been convened to weigh criminal charges in Brown’s death, but the results of those proceedings may not become public until October.

The suit, which names Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Delmar and both departments among the defendants, claims the officers assaulted the plaintiffs. It also contends both departments failed to adequately train their officers.

Police have said the arrests were for failure to disperse, but the lawsuit contends the arrests were baseless.

Calls to Jackson and a St. Louis County police spokesman seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Brown’s funeral was Monday.

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