Community Corner
St. Louis Protesters: Probe Cops After 22 Mall Arrests
Police defended the arrests and said protesters got out of hand. Al Gerber, who was at the protest, said it was cops who were out of hand.
ST. LOUIS, MO — Protesters at a St. Louis County Council meeting and called for an independent investigation into the arrests of 22 people over the weekend at the popular St. Louis Galleria mall in Richmond Heights, Missouri during a demonstration over the acquittal of a white former police officer in the death of a black suspect.
Protesters packed the meeting Tuesday night, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Police have defended the arrests and said demonstrators got out of hand.
But Al Gerber, who was at the protest, said it was police officers who got out of hand. (For more information on the St. Louis protests and other Clayton-Richmond Heights stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)
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"All the violence there came from the police," Gerber told the council. Others speakers accused police of going "crazy."
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After the meeting, council Chairman Sam Page said it's unclear which officers did what and how much the county can do, because officers came from multiple agencies.
Several protests in St. Louis and the surrounding area have occurred since Sept. 15, when a judge ruled that former St. Louis officer Jason Stockley was not guilty of first-degree murder in the 2011 death of Anthony Lamar Smith, a drug suspect fatally shot by Stockley after a chase.
St. Louis city police also have come under criticism for their handling of protests. Interim Police Chief Lawrence O'Toole, speaking to KMOX Radio host Charlie Brennan on Wednesday, defended his officers, noting that 30 have been hurt during the protest, including five requiring hospitalization.
One officer sustained a dislocated jaw, another suffered an injured shoulder and a third had a concussion, O'Toole said. Another officer had lung problems after being exposed to an unknown chemical, and another required stitches after being cut by broken glass.
St. Louis police were criticized for using a process called "kettling" to arrest around 120 people during a downtown protest Sept. 17. Some of those arrested, including bystanders and a St. Louis Post-Dispatch journalist, said they had nowhere to go when police ordered the crowd to disperse. O'Toole said there was room to leave.
The city is investigating the arrests. But some protest supporters have called for a federal investigation.
"I've recommended to the mayor that if it makes everyone feel comfortable, then I have no problem at all with the U.S. attorney reviewing this," O'Toole said.
Photo credit: Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP