A Holocaust survivor was one of nine people arrested Monday during protests in downtown St. Louis over the death of black teenager Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson, Missouri.

Hedy Epstein met with more than 100 others for a protest co-ordinated by the Organization for Black Struggle on Monday. Epstein told CTV News Channel the protesters occupied the street and marched about two blocks to a state building where the governor has his office.

"We wanted to enter the building and police and security refused to let us enter," she said.

People started chanting and the situation became increasingly tense. Police told them the governor was not there and they had to leave.

"Nine of us refused to leave and we were handcuffed, put in the paddy wagon and taken to a police station where we were booked," she said. 

Epstein and the others were released a short time later, but must appear in court at a later date on the charge of failure to disperse.

Epstein is a St. Louis resident known for her political activism, particularly her support of the Free Gaza Movement. She was born in Freiburg, Germany in 1924 and made it to England on a children's transport in 1939 as part of about 10,000 children England took in at the beginning of the Second World War. She never saw her family again. She moved to the U.S. in 1948 and soon became active in causes of civil rights and social justice.

"I've been arrested several times before," she said. "I'm really troubled by this arrest because I've become the focus and I'm not the focus. The focus is what's happening in Ferguson and the police brutality."

The protests began when Michael Brown, an 18-year-old unarmed black man, was shot and killed by a police officer. 

While Missouri Governor Jay Nixon didn't meet with Epstein and her fellow protesters, he announced Mondaythat the National Guard had been deployed to "maintain peace and order."