FORMER OFFICER ACQUITTED IN KILLING OF BLACK MAN AFTER HIGH-SPEED CHASE

ST. LOUIS A white former police officer was acquitted Friday in the 2011 death of a black man who was fatally shot following a high- speed chase, with the judge declaring that he would not be swayed by “partisan interests, public clamour or fear of criticism.”

The acquittal of Jason Stockley in the death of Anthony Lamar Smith had stirred concerns about possible civil unrest for weeks. Several hundred protesters were marching in the streets of downtown St. Louis within hours of the verdict.