"The Way" was a term used to refer the Christians, perhaps it arose because Jesus referred to Himself as "The Way". The gospel was leading to people turning from idol worship, this meant that those who made money from making idols were losing out. So Demetrius, a silversmith, stirred up trouble. We need to be clear that the good news will involve loss for some people, and will lead to conflict. Jesus Himself said that He came to bring not peace but a sword (Matt 10:34). Ungodliness is woven into the economic system. This is still true today. In organising opposition, they played on devotion to the goddess Artemis. Artemis (Greek version of Diana) was a fertility goddess, and prostitution was involved in her worship.
The "threat" to Artemis aroused the passions of the people, and so a riot was started. They grabbed two of Paul's companions. Paul wanted to appear before them, but other disciples stopped him from doing this.
The crowd was in uproar, and shouted the name of Artemis for two hours. The Jews wanted to make it clear that they had nothing to do with the Christians.
The city clerk brought an end to the riot by his calmness. He pointed out that Paul and his companions actually had not done anything wrong, and that any charges could be pursued properly through the courts. Things would be bad for Ephesus if Rome heard of riots in the city. So everything fizzled out.
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