The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
St. Louis are readies for third day of demonstrations
Ex-officer’s acquittal in killing of black man riles residents.
Suburban St.
ST. LOUIS — Louis shop owners on Sunday swept up broken glass and boarded up storefront windows that were shattered overnight when a day of peaceful protests turned violent, as the city and its surrounding communities prepared for a third day of demonstrations.
Several hundred protesters on Sunday observed six minutes of silence in front of
the St. Louis Police Department, then chanted “stop killing us” as officers looked on from headquarters windows.
Protesters said the six-min- ute silence symbolizes the six years between the death of Anthony Lamar Smith and the acquittal of the white former police officer who was charged in the black suspect’s shooting death. The verdict was issued Friday.
During the silence, protest organizer Cori Bush walked slowly with Anne Smith, Anthony Smith’s mother.
Bush says everyone makes mistakes, but that Smith did not deserve to die.
Authorities closed off several blocks around the police headquarters Sunday after- noon in anticipation of the demonstration, which followed two days of nonvio- lent marches and two nights of violent skirmishes that resulted in more than 40 arrests.
Saturday night’s clash between police and a few dozen protesters in the Del- mar Loop area of University City, a suburb about 10 miles
west of St. Louis near Wash
ington University, resulted in the arrests of at least nine
people. At least half of the shops on one side of a two
block stretch of the popular nightlife district were broken by the time the area was cleared.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greit- ens issued a warning Sunday on Facebook that anyone caught destroying prop- erty would be held account- able and could face felony charges.
“Saturday night, some criminals decided to pick up rocks and break win- dows. They thought they’d get away with it. They were wrong. Our officers caught ’em, cuffed ’em, and threw ’em in jail,” the first-term Republican governor wrote.
The protests began Friday after a judge acquitted a white former St. Louis police officer, Jason Stockley, in the 2011 fatal shooting of a black drug suspect, 24-yearold Anthony Lamar Smith.
Saturday night’s violence capped a day of noisy but peaceful demonstrations at suburban shopping malls. Protesters shouted slogans such as “black lives matter” and “it is our duty to fight for our freedom” as they marched through West County Center mall in the suburb of Des Peres, west of St. Louis. A group also demonstrated at another suburban shopping center, the Chesterfield Mall, and at a regional food festival.
Organizers hoped to spread the impact of the protests beyond predominantly black neighborhoods to those
that are mainly white. Saturday’s confrontation took place in an area
known for concert venues, restaurants, shops and bars, and includes the Blueberry Hill club where rock legend Chuck Berry played for many years. There had been a peaceful march there earlier in the evening that ended with organizers calling for people to leave and recon- vene Sunday afternoon.
But a few dozen protesters refused to go. Police ordered them to disperse, saying the protest was illegal. Hundreds of police in riot gear eventually moved in with armored vehicles. The demonstra- tors retreated down a street, breaking windows with trash cans and throwing objects at police.
Several protesters were taken away in handcuffs, including a man who was carried off upside down. At least one demonstrator was treated after he was hit with
pepper spray.
On Friday night, nearly three-dozen people were arrested and 11 police offi- cers were injured, including a broken jaw and dislocated shoulder. Five officers were taken to hospitals. Police said 10 businesses were damaged and protesters broke a window and spattered red paint on the home of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson.