St. Louis

Police Chant: ‘Whose Streets Our Streets’ After Mass Arrests

September 20, 2017 Jamiles Lartey, www.theguardian.com Educate! Police, police brutality, Police State, Protests, St. Louis

Police officers watch demonstrators as they continue to protest in St Louis Police officers watch demonstrators on Sunday night after Jason Stockley, a former St Louis police officer, was found not guilty of the murder of Anthony Lamar Smith in 2011. Photograph: Joshua Lott/Reuters View more sharing options Shares By Jamiles Lartey for The Guardian - Police officers in riot gear gathered alongside a St Louis boulevard late on Sunday night, chanting “whose street, our street”, a common refrain used by those protesting against the acquittal of a white former officer over the death of a black man, after successfully clearing the street of demonstrators and onlookers. At a news conference early on Monday, interim police chief Lawrence O’Toole said police had seized at least five weapons and said he was “proud to tell you the city of St Louis is safe and the police owned tonight”. “We’re in control,” he said. “This is our city and we’re going to protect it.” The chant drew criticism, however, from protesters, activists and some police officers. In a statement, Sgt Heather King, president of the Ethical Order of Police, a group founded by African American officers, said: “That chant goes against the very code of ethics we swore to abide by. “Whether we agree with demonstrations, protests or acts of violence, it is our job to do our job free of personal bias.” On Twitter on Monday, the group said: “We are human and we will make mistakes. We are also people who have the last word, which can be – arrest, freedom, or death. No need 2 chant.” Hundreds of officers had mobilized after another day of peaceful protests over the acquittal of Jason Stockley in connection with the death of Anthony Lamar Smith. The protest began at the police headquarters downtown. Hundreds of people marched through downtown streets, the posh Central West End and the trendy Delmar Loop area of nearby University City.

Police Tactics Kettling, Mass Arrests Questioned In St. Louis

September 20, 2017 Doug Moore, www.sanfrancisco.stltoday.com Resist! Police, police brutality, Repression, St. Louis, Tactics

By Doug Moore for St. Louis Post-Dispatch - ST. LOUIS • Police used a technique called kettling on Sunday night to box in about 100 people at a busy downtown intersection and arrest them for failing to disperse. It’s a tactic used to corral a group of people who fail to follow police orders. St. Louis police took the action after several windows were broken and concrete planters and trash cans overturned. But some of those caught in the box made by rows of officers said police overstepped their bounds, using excessive force and chemical spray on people who were not protesting, including residents trying to get home and members of the media. As police closed in from all sides, they struck their batons in unison on the pavement, in a cadence march. Tony Rice, an activist who goes by Search4Swag on Twitter, said he was shocked by the police behavior. “It was the most brutal arrest I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Rice said. “I thought I was going to die.” He said he could not lie prone on the ground, as ordered, because he had his bike with him. Rice said his neck was being pressed against part of his bike, and he told the officers: “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” Those bused to the jail seemed confused by what was happening, Rice said. Pedestrians were arrested along with legal observers, protesters, a freelance photographer and a doctor, he said.

More Than 80 Arrested As Riot Police Break Up St. Louis Protest Over Officer’s Acquittal

September 19, 2017 Valerie Volcovici and Kenny Bahr, www.aol.com Resist! police brutality, Protesters Arrested, Protests, Rebellion, St. Louis

By Valerie Volcovici and Kenny Bahr for Reuters - T. LOUIS (Reuters) - More than 80 people were arrested on Sunday night as protests in St Louis over the acquittal of a white policeman who had shot a black man turned violent for a third night running. Police in riot gear used pepper spray and arrested the demonstrators who had defied orders to disperse following a larger, peaceful protest. After nightfall, a small group remained and the scene turned to one of disorder, following the pattern of Friday and Saturday. Protesters smashed windows and attempted to block a ramp to an interstate highway, police and witnesses said. Officers tackled some protesters who defied police orders and used pepper spray before starting the mass arrests. At a late-night news conference, Mayor Lyda Krewson noted that “the vast majority of protesters are non-violent,” and blamed the trouble on “a group of agitators.” Acting police commissioner Lawrence O‘Toole struck a hard stance, saying: “We’re in control, this is our city and we’re going to protect it.” The protests in St Louis followed the acquittal on Friday of former police officer Jason Stockley, 36, of first-degree murder in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, 24. The violence evoked memories of the riots following the 2014 shooting of a black teenager by a white officer in nearby Ferguson, Missouri.

Driver Speeds Through ‘Convict Stockley’ Protest in Kirkwood, Mo

September 17, 2017 Sarah Fenske, www.riverfronttimes.com Resist! Black Lives Matter (BLM), Police abuse, St. Louis

By Sarah Fenske for Riverfront Times. A protest in Kirkwood last night took a potentially ugly turn when an SUV barreled through the crowd, horn honking. The protesters had assembled in the St. Louis suburb to advocate for the conviction of former police officer Jason Stockley, who has been tried on a charge of a first-degree murder. The city is now in its fifth week of waiting for a verdict, a decision in the hands of a judge after Stockley waived his right to a jury. "Stand up! Fight back!" the protesters shouted, with some brandishing signs reading, "Black Lives Matter." The protest appeared to be well under control; the video shows police lights flashing nearby. But one driver in a white SUV got fed up with the chanting and took off into the crowd.

Nazi’s Threaten: St. Louis Jews Shielding Protestors From Police

September 17, 2017 Rafael Shimunov, www.medium.com Resist! Police acquittal, Police violence, Racism, St. Louis

By Rafael Shimunov for Medium. When protesters were caged in by an abusive police force, the Central Reform Congregation of St. Louis served as a model to all congregations and opened their doors to protect them. The people of St. Louis took to the streets in response to the acquittal of ex-cop Jason Stockley for the murder of Anthony Lamar Smith. Stockley, when engaged on a police chase of Smith was recorded premeditating his killing of Smith. Police responded to protests withunhinged violence. Here is a video of at least 40 militarized forces attacking an elderly woman with a shield, then overrunning her and others under them. Rather than administering first aid, they continue to overrun her and eventually force her up for detainment.

Police Arrest 32 In St Louis After Acquittal Of Police Officer Jason Stockley

September 17, 2017 Amanda Holpuch, www.theguardian.com Resist! killed by police, Police abuse, St. Louis

By Amanda Holpuch for the Guardian. Mostly peaceful demonstrations followed a not-guilty verdict in the murder trial of a white former police officer who shot and killed a black motorist St Louis police said 32 people had been arrested during demonstrations against the acquittal of a former police officer, who had been charged with murder in the 2011 fatal shooting of 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith. Ten law enforcement officers were injured in the mostly peaceful protests, which began after the not-guilty verdict was handed down by circuit judge Timothy Wilson on Friday morning. The demonstrations quieted early Saturday morning, having taken place in different parts of the city, including outside the home of mayor Lyda Krewson. At one point, the crowd around her home swelled to about 1,000 people, including some who pelted the home with red paint and broke at least two windows.

St. Louis To Train Police Officers On How First Amendment Works

November 2, 2016 Mariah Stewart, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! First Amendment, Police, St. Louis

By Mariah Stewart for The Huffington Post - ST. LOUIS ― Officers in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department will undergo training on First Amendment rights under a mid-October settlement with four journalists who were arrested during the Ferguson, Missouri, protests two years ago. The settlement, which HuffPost obtained through a public records request, requires those officers on the SWAT team and in the Civil Disobedience Unit to be trained in particular on how to deal with individuals who are recording police activity.

Bogus Charges Dropped In Ferguson

January 23, 2016 Mariah Stewart, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Ferguson, Protesters Arrested, St. Louis

By Mariah Stewart for The Huffington Post - ST. LOUIS -- Charges against six people arrested at a vigil remembering the 2014 police killing of teenager Michael Brown were dropped Thursday by a prosecutor without explanation. Ferguson prosecutor Stephanie Karr, who isn’t known for leniency in dealing with Ferguson demonstrators and is facing at least one ethics complaint, withdrew the charges in a handwritten letter as trial was about to begin. The six defendants, who had been held for trial in earlier preliminary hearings, exchanged hugs and smiles.

Residents In St Louis Dying In Record Numbers From WWII Radiation

October 30, 2015 Matt Young, www.news.com.au Educate! Radiation, Radioactive Waste, St. Louis

By Matt Young for News - For decades, both former and current residents from approximately 90 municipalities in the Missouri city were diagnosed with a long list of life-threatening illnesses, including leukaemia, lupus, brain tumours, appendix cancer, multiple sclerosis, birth defects and many more. People died. Babies died. And they’re still dying to this day, dubbed “the poison children of Coldwater Creek.” But no one ever connected the dots as to what was really making these innocent people sick. “You’ll never forget the moment they tell you, ‘We found lesions on your lung and your liver,’” Mary Oscko, who has stage 4 lung cancer, told CBS News.

St. Louis Judge Blocks Minimum Wage Increase In St. Louis

October 16, 2015 Laura Clawson, www.dailykos.com Educate! Minimum Wage, St. Louis

By Laura Clawson for Daily Kos, The Missouri minimum wage is $7.65 an hour. And there it stays for the whole state, even if some cities want a minimum wage that's above poverty level. Take St. Louis. The city's minimum wage was set to go to $8.25 an hour on Thursday, on its way to $11 by 2018. But a judge has blocked that increase, because it's against a state law banning such local raises. Get this, though: The state law banning local minimum wage increases was passed—overriding Gov. Jay Nixon's veto— after St. Louis passed its increase in August, and after Kansas City passed an increase in July.

Woman Records St Louis PD Taser Her Repeatedly

June 1, 2015 Jennifer Baker, www.revolution-news.com Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), police brutality, St. Louis

By Jennifer Baker at Revolution News - A silent protest organized by the Black Lives Matter movement under the banner of #ShutDownBaseball on Friday night began at Kiener Plaza around 8:15 p.m. before marching to the Cardinals game at Busch stadium in downtown St Louis. The goal: to raise awareness and call for an end to police brutality on people of color. The demonstration was largely peaceful and fairly uneventful outside of people standing with signs, some of them in a line crossing the road at the entrance to the stadium, an area already closed off and crowded by baseball fans. It wasn’t until the last 13 remaining protesters started to head home around 11:30pm when things got out of hand. People still motivated to bring attention to their cause had decided to leave the sidewalk and walk in the street. Faced with a myriad of options, when the commands given to leave the roadway were not met Lt Dan Zarrick made the decision to make arrests. What we see in the video below (supplied by the female taser victim) shows what happened after that decision was made.

Protest Over Decision Not To Prosecute Police In Vonderrit Myers Case

May 20, 2015 Joe Millitzer, www.fox2now.com Resist! Criminal Justice, Law, police brutality, St. Louis, Vonderrit Myers

Protesters took to the to the streets of downtown St. Louis Tuesday morning over the Circuit Attorney’s decision not to charge an officer for the October shooting death of Vonderrit Myers. There were about 40 demonstrators near the intersection of 10th and Market. Police met with protesters on the scene. The Circuit Attorney’s officer released the results of their investigation into the shooting on Monday. Investigators found that Myers shot at the officer therefore deadly force was justified. Demonstrators have dispersed from the scene. The protest in front of the Courts building lasted for about two hours.

Nuclear History: Did Uranium In Water Kill Infants In St. Louis?

May 1, 2015 Ryan Schuessler, www.america.aljazeera.com Educate! Children, Nuclear Energy, St. Louis

On a Saturday afternoon in late February at the Immaculate Conception Parish of Dardenne, a fresh snow was falling on the graves of more than a dozen infant-sized tombstones. The church bells tolled, signaling the beginning of Mass as parishioners walked briskly through the cold. It was at this Roman Catholic parish where, some 15 years ago, the small congregation’s streak of infant deaths caught the attention of locals and media, both of whom drew connections to the area’s atomic history that left groundwater in the area contaminated with uranium. But the state of Missouri said nothing was out of the ordinary. A health study published by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services in 2001 determined that St. Charles County did not have a statistically significant higher rate of infant deaths.

Update On Arrests In St. Louis

January 10, 2015 Molly Gott, www.organizemo.org Resist! Ferguson, Law, police brutality, St. Louis

In 2015, we’ll be sending out weekly updates about the work we’re doing. Check out our first one! The St. Louis Legal Collective formed spontaneously in response to the Mike Brown protests to provide accessible, democratic and accountable legal support to people fighting for social justice in St. Louis City and County. We currently have 15 core collective members and work with over 100 other movement volunteers. We are regular people (not lawyers) who refuse to allow the legal system to separate and silence us. As mass arrests have decreased the focus of our work has shifted from primarily providing protest support (24/7 hotline, tracking people through the system, dispatching lawyers for jail visits, coordinating with arrestees friends and family, posting bail, dealing with warrants, giving rides home from jail, etc.) to helping people fight their court cases.

Michael Brown Case Grand Juror Sues St. Louis County Prosecutor

January 6, 2015 Robert Patrick & Joel Currier, www.stltoday.com Organize! Ferguson, Law, Missouri, St. Louis

A grand jury member’s lawsuit seeking a court order to speak out about the Michael Brown shooting investigation accuses Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch of publicly misrepresenting the panel’s viewpoint after it chose not to indict Officer Darren Wilson. In documents filed Monday in federal court in St. Louis, “Grand Juror Doe” wants freedom to challenge McCulloch’s comments, “especially the implication that all grand jurors believed that there was no support for any charges.” The filing says that the heavily redacted grand jury documents McCulloch released Nov. 24 “do not fully portray the proceedings before the grand jury.” McCulloch spoke publicly that night about the grand jury’s decision against charging Wilson.

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