Where any number of persons, whether armed or not, are unlawfully or riotously assembled, the sheriff and his deputies, the officials governing the city or town, or the justices of the peace and marshals and constables and police thereof, or any of them, must go among the persons assembled, or as near to them as possible, and command them in the name of the state, immediately to disperse.
R.L.1910, § 5585.