Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and established a curfew in the suburb of Ferguson to preserve calm and order. The curfew went into effect Saturday night, but protesters and looters remained on the streets.

After protesters and looters clashed with police in the St. Louis suburb during the past week, Jay Nixon, Missouri's Democratic governor, established a curfew and declared a state of emergency to prevent further unrest in the town, according to NBC News.

Protests have been ongoing for the past week since police shot an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown.

The curfew will begin Saturday at midnight and will be in effect until 5 a.m. local time the following morning, according to Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol, which relieved the St. Louis County Police in Ferguson.

"We won't enforce it with trucks, we wont enforce it with tear gas. We will communicate, 'It's time to go home,'" Johnson said, according to NBC News.

"In the morning this community will rise with the sun to renew its quest for justice," Nixon said to a very boisterous crowd, according to ABC News. The crowd yelled questions about the investigation and demanded to know why the officer involved, Darren Wilson, had not yet been charged.

However, the state officials emphasized the need to maintain order. Looters had stolen from local businesses a couple nights during the past week. A local business owner supported the idea of a curfew, though he also said that the people should have the right to protest, reports ABC News.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Capt. Johnson told the crowd during the press conference that, though he was not in charge of the investigation, 40 FBI agents had arrived in Ferguson to investigate.

Violence erupted Friday night after the police released security footage from the store Michael Brown allegedly robbed before he was shot. Federal investigators had warned the local police against releasing the video, which they waited until Friday to release.

However, despite the curfew, looters and protesters remained in the streets Saturday night, reports USA Today. During the altercation, seven people were arrested, and one was shot, though not by police, according to Gov. Nixon.