They turned violent for the second night on Saturday in reaction to the acquittal. Ex-officer Stockley shot a suspected black drug dealer who had fled from officers trying to arrest him.
Demonstrators had assembled at an intersection near the courthouse where former officer Stockley was acquitted on first-degree murder charges on Friday. Multiple assaults of law enforcement officers, property damage — including the mayor’s home — and more than 30 arrests have been recorded since. Eleven police officers, including one with a dislocated shoulder and another with a broken jaw, were reported injured.
St Louis police quickly declared an unlawful assembly and deployed tear gas, after protesters moved in on the home and neighbourhood of the Democratic mayor. On Friday, St. Louis police wearing gas masks and riot gear, tried to block the marching protesters. They were hit with bricks and bottles, officials said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Police also deployed tear gas devices continuously to clear the street, RT reported. “Time to go. It’s time to go. Start walking or you’re under arrest,” an officer ordered. But some thousand protestors converged on the mayor’s home, throwing rocks and bottles at the property, the Post-Dispatch reported. They broke a window and spattered red paint on the home of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson.
Krewson and Interim Police Chief Lawrence M. O’Toole told a news briefing that authorities will try and “keep everything as peaceful as possible”. O’Toole was asked however if he was fearful that the protest could become like the 2014 Ferguson riots. Nearby Ferguson that sparked months of angry and violent protests.
The Associated Press reported at least half of the businesses on one side of the street with broken windows along a two block area. But Mayor Krewson on Friday said instead that she was “appalled” by what happened to to the black man, Lamar Smith. “I will continue my work to create a more equitable community,” she said in a statement.
In addition to Krewson’s home, a public library and at least one local business was damaged during the protests despite her sympathy for the protesters.
On Friday Missouri Governor Eric Greitens, also a Democrat, condemned the violence on Facebook: “I will protect people’s constitutional right to peacefully protest, but violence will not be tolerated. We will protect people’s lives, homes, and communities.”
Protesters pelted a police vehicle with rocks at the old police building, KMOV reported. Law enforcement tweeted a video showing protesters jumping on a police SUV. A child joined in the dancing on the vehicle.
The angry crowd ironically targeted members of the mainstream media too. An unnamed freelance videographer working for the Associated Press said a protester grabbed his camera, and threw it on the ground, breaking the view finder on the camera. The journalist also says he was mobbed by six men who told him to put his camera away or he would be beaten, the AP reported.
KTVI’s Dan Gray was caught up in a similar threatening situation while reporting in St. Louis. One protester verbally assaulted Gary and he had to be rescued by other demonstrators. Fox News Channel reporter Mike Tobin had water thrown at him during an on-air interview with a protester.
“I don’t think racism is going to change in America until people get uncomfortable,” Kayla Reed of the St. Louis Action Council, a protest organiser told AP.
A concert by U2 on Saturday night in the city was canceled after police told them they were not able to provide “standard protection”.
