Concerns raised about arrests at St. Louis protest
ST. LOUIS — Several elected officials and faith leaders on Monday called for an investigation into the way police arrested and incarcerated protesters at a suburban St. Louis mall, with many referring to the altercation as a “police riot.”
Police from both agencies involved in the arrests defended officers’ actions, saying demonstrators got out of hand Saturday at the St. Louis Galleria in Richmond Heights, Mo., and officers had no choice but to take some of them to the ground.
The protest was among many in St. Louis and its suburbs since a judge ruled in mid-September that former police officer Jason Stockley was not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Anthony Lamar Smith, a black suspect. Nearly 200 people have been arrested since the Sept. 15 ruling.
Among them were 22 arrested at the Galleria.
“A police riot broke out, but let me be clear — it was terrorism,” the Rev. Karen Anderson of Ward Chapel AME Church in Florissant said at a news conference involving about three dozen people, including pastors, a rabbi and state lawmakers. She and several other speakers urged an investigation of the way police are handling protesters, through the U.S. Department of Justice, the Missouri Legislature or some other body.
Also Monday, Missouri Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley said he would hire an independent counsel to investigate claims that evidence was withheld in a federal civil rights lawsuit over Smith’s shooting.
Albert Watkins, an attorney for Smith’s fiancée and daughter, said the attorney general’s office during that lawsuit failed to provide DNA evidence found on a gun in Smith’s car or additional video footage that was later used in the criminal case against Stockley. Watkins said he’s not sure who’s at fault for withholding that evidence, but that the lawsuit consequently was “horribly compromised in a fashion that truly compromises the integrity of our justice system.”
As for the Galleria protest, those arrested included a 13-year-old boy and the Rev. Kayla Frye of St. Peter AME Church in St. Louis. Frye did not participate in Monday’s news conference, which was held at her church.
She and six other protesters were charged with rioting and resisting arrest after Saturday’s demonstration. Frye was also charged with assault for allegedly jumping on the back of a police officer.
The protest began with about 150 people marching through the upscale mall. Things took a turn when protesters blocked an escalator and sought to go the second floor, against the wishes of mall management, police said.
Someone threw a trash can at officers. Richmond Heights Capt. Gerry Rohr used a bullhorn to order the crowd to disperse. He said he issued the same warning two more times over several minutes as St. Louis County police arrived to assist.