FERGUSON, Mo. — Police and protesters were finally able to share the Ferguson streets again at night.

The St. Louis suburb still had plenty of protests Tuesday over the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown. And tensions rose briefly when someone hurled a bottle at officers.

But the overall scene was more subdued than the past five nights, with smaller crowds and fewer confrontations. Police said they still made 47 arrests, mainly of people who defied orders to disperse.

The slight easing of tensions came the day before Attorney General Eric Holder was to visit Ferguson to meet with FBI and other officials carrying out an independent federal investigation.

The Justice Department has mounted an unusually swift and aggressive response to Brown’s death, from conducting an independent autopsy to sending FBI agents to Ferguson in search of witnesses.

A grand jury also could begin hearing evidence Wednesday to determine whether the officer, Darren Wilson, should be charged in Brown’s death, said Ed Magee, spokesman for St. Louis County’s prosecuting attorney.

Wilson received special recognition in February for, what Police Chief Thomas Jackson said then, was his role in responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle, then struggling with the driver and detaining him until help arrived.