St. Louis braces for more protests
Violence follows white officer’s acquittal in shooting of black man
Hundreds of protesters marched in a third consecutive day of demonstrations Sunday following the acquittal of a white former city police officer in the death of a black motorist.
Protests began Friday after a judge cleared the one-time St. Louis Metropolitan police officer, Jason Stockley, of first-degree murder charges in the 2011 shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, during a high-speed car chase.
Stockley shot Smith after Smith fled from Stockley and his partner, who were trying to arrest him for a suspected drug deal.
Judge Timothy Wilson ruled Stockley acted in self-defense. His decision prompted demonstrations Friday that left 11 police officers injured. Authorities made 33 arrests.
St. Louis County police said they arrested nine people Saturday night and early Sunday in suburban University City, home to Washington University, one day after protests that turned violent led to 33 arrests in two St. Louis neighborhoods.
Some stores reopened Sunday despite the damage, with artists trying to enhance the appearance of plywood covering broken windows.
On Sunday afternoon, about 1,000 people gathered outside the St. Louis Police Department and marched into the city’s Midtown area, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Protesters formed lines in front of the barricaded police headquarters, banged drums, held up “Black Lives Matter” signs and chanted, “Stop killing us” and “No justice, no peace.” They also staged a “die-in,” lying on the street in front of the police station as if dead.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Sunday also revealed that there was insufficient evidence to pursue a separate federal civil rights prosecution of Stockley. The department withheld its conclusion while Stockley’s murder trial was underway in St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch reported Sunday.
Justice department spokeswoman Lauren Ehrsam told the Post-Dispatch that the civil rights division finished its own internal review of the case in September 2016 and concluded that the evidence did not support a prosecution under federal criminal civil rights statutes. But it made no formal statement at the time “to avoid having any impact” on the pending state criminal case.
The University City Police Department said 23 businesses and five police vehicles were damaged Saturday night when protesters hurled rocks, bricks, water bottles filled with paint thinner or gasoline, and balloons filled with red liquid.
St. Louis Police Chief Law- rence O’Toole said the protests have been peaceful until after dark, when chaos has ensued.
“Saturday night, some criminals decided to pick up rocks and break windows,” Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, said in a statement. “They thought they’d get away with it. They were wrong. Our officers caught ’em, cuffed ’em, and threw ’em in jail.”
Judge Wilson’s decision prompted demonstrations Friday that left 11 police officers injured.
On Saturday, demonstrators marched through a shopping mall. At about 9 p.m., organizers announced to the crowd that the protest was a success, citing zero arrests. The crowd dispersed shortly thereafter.
About an hour later, a smaller, separate crowd gathered. A police line formed once the tension between demonstrators and police grew. One person reportedly threw red paint on a shield held by a University City police officer.
A short time later, the St. Louis County and St. Louis Metropolitan police departments were called in to assist the University City police, according to a statement released by county police.
Clancy and Piper report for KSDK-TV in St. Louis; Bacon for USA TODAY in McLean, Va. Contributing: The Associated Press