St. Louis Protests: Demonstrations To Resume; More Than 120 Arrested

ST. LOUIS, MO — Protests were slated to resume Tuesday in St. Louis, the fifth consecutive day, as demonstrators call for racial equality and decry a judge's clearing of a white police officer in the fatal shooting of a black suspect.

Protesters gathered outside the jail in downtown St. Louis for more than two hours Monday night in solidarity with others who were arrested during demonstrations that turned ugly over the weekend. They chanted "free our people." There was no new vandalism overnight.

The demonstrators criticized authorities for jailing their fellow protesters for nearly 24 hours after they were arrested. More than 120 people were arrested Sunday, police said. (For more information on the protests and other St. Louis 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.)

RAW VIDEO: Protest outside downtown St. Louis jail. https://t.co/GfTbHOg67r
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 19, 2017

Some of those jailed were released Monday evening before organizers announced an end to the demonstration and told people to go home. Protests will resume Tuesday, organizers said, but they gave no details.

Three days of peaceful protests and three nights of vandalism followed Friday's announcement that a judge found ex-officer Jason Stockley not guilty in the 2011 death of Anthony Lamar Smith.

Smith's mother, Anne Smith, was among those gathered outside the downtown jail Monday.

Hundreds of riot police mobilized downtown late Sunday, arresting more than 80 people at one intersection who police said didn't follow orders to disperse. Earlier, police had responded to reports of property damage and vandalism.

Watch: In St. Louis, Officer Acquittal Follows A Familiar Pattern

But Sean Porter, 25, of St. Louis, was among those arrested at the intersection. He said they could not follow orders to disperse because police had them blocked in.

"They threw us on the ground, sprayed us, hit us, everything. It's tragic," said Porter, who was released from jail Monday evening. He was charged with failure to disperse.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said reporter Mike Faulk, who was on the street covering the protests, had an experience similar to the one Porter described.

Police blocked all four sides of the intersection. Faulk heard the police command to move back, but he had nowhere to go, the newspaper reported. Multiple officers knocked Faulk down, he told the Post-Dispatch, and pinned his limbs to the ground. A foot pushed his head into the pavement and he was squirted with pepper spray after he was subdued, he said.

Protesters had marched peacefully through St. Louis' posh Central West End and the trendy Delmar Loop area of nearby University City on Friday and Saturday. Protesters also marched through two shopping malls in a wealthy area of St. Louis County. On Sunday, more than 1,000 people had gathered at police headquarters and then marched without trouble through downtown St. Louis. Silent protesters marched arm-in-arm to city hall during the Monday morning rush hour crush.

But on Sunday night, 100 or so people who remained on the street grew agitated, knocking over planters, breaking shop and hotel windows, and scattering plastic chairs at an outdoor venue as they headed downtown.

They were met with riot police who made the arrests and seized at least five weapons, according to Interim Police Chief Lawrence O'Toole. Later, officers in riot gear gathered alongside a city boulevard chanting "whose street, our street" — a common refrain used by the protesters — after clearing the street of demonstrators and onlookers.

Stockley shot Smith after high-speed chase as officers tried to arrest Smith and his partner in a suspected drug deal. Stockley, 36, testified he felt endangered because he saw Smith holding a silver revolver when Smith backed his car toward the officers and sped away.

Prosecutors said Stockley planted a gun in Smith's car after the shooting. The officer's DNA was on the weapon but Smith's wasn't. Dashcam video from Stockley's cruiser recorded him saying he was "going to kill this (expletive)." Less than a minute later, he shot Smith five times.

Stockley's lawyer dismissed the comment as "human emotions" during a dangerous pursuit. St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson, who said prosecutors didn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Stockley murdered Smith, said the statement could be ambiguous.

Stockley left the police department and moved to Houston three years ago.

By JIM SALTER and SUMMER BALLENTINE, Associated Press

Photo credit: David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP