Some of those jailed were released Monday evening before organizers announced an end to the demonstration and told people to go home. Bush says everyone makes mistakes, but that Smith did not deserve to die. On Monday morning, about 150 activists demonstrated in downtown St. Louis. “Each one of us brings a heavy heart, but also a faith-filled heart”, Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis said at the Ecumenical Prayer Service for Peace in downtown St. Louis. Several protesters were also maced after throwing bottles at police, MPD said.
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During the night’s demonstrations, 11 police officers were injured and authorities made 33 arrests.
As Stockley exited his vehicle, he carried both his police-issued handgun and a personal AK-47 pistol. The other seven ranged in age from 22 to 37 years old. Two of those arrested were charged only with failing to disperse. There were reports that the concert venue could become a target of protesters on Saturday night.
Archbishop Carlson led the prayer service after several days of protests took place in the city over the acquittal of a former police officer in a 2011 shooting.
More demonstrations are expected on Sunday.
Police responded in riot gear, culminating Sunday with the arrests of 123 people, including journalists and legal observers.
The vast majority of demonstrators are peaceful and there are only a few dozen who cause chaos each night after peaceful protesters disperse. “Most of the people who didn’t have their hands behind their backs were making sure they weren’t pepper sprayed in the face”, he said. Although Saturday began with largely peaceful protests, things quickly turned violent as protesters chucked bricks, rocks, and other projectiles at officers, resulting in nine arrests.
Schron Y. Jackson, public information manager for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, said the department is reviewing footage of “the video circulating on social media”, though she didn’t specify which video.
More than 80 people were arrested Sunday night, St. Louis police said, long after the official – and peaceful – protests ended.
Religious leaders from across St. Louis converged on Kiener Plaza Tuesday afternoon with the hope of uniting the community through the power of prayer. They all said, yes, it was the police that chanted that.
Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer, was acquitted late last week in the death of Anthony Lamar Smith, whom officers pursued following a suspected drug deal.
The violence of the previous two nights evoked memories of the riots following the 2014 shooting of a black teenager by a white officer in nearby Ferguson, Missouri.
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Since the verdict has come down, St. Louis has been in a constant state of unrest. Businesses were vandalized at the intersection of Olive and 10th Street and moved toward Washington Avenue.
