![]() Then you go to the specifics of the case, where the police officer was accused by the prosecutor of planting a gun, where the police officer was caught on tape at one point using expletives that I won't repeat on the radio, but basically saying, I'm going to kill this guy. And it was some black protesters and activists that really pushed her to do that and brought the case forward into the public eye again as St Louis was still reeling from Ferguson and learning from Ferguson and trying to understand the racial dynamic that has been played on in this city for a very long time. And he was never charged at the time.Īnd the former circuit attorney decided to charge him last year in 2016. And so people knew about it back then, and it didn't get anywhere near as much attention as it's getting right now. This case happened in 2011, three years before Michael Brown in Ferguson. And part of it is some of the specific dynamics of the case. MESSENGER: I think it's a couple of things. MARTIN: What is it about this case that is causing this level of anger and resentment? That was one of the refrains that we heard over and over. Louis, then we're going to disrupt the economy until you pay attention to us. They specifically were talking about that, about if there's no justice for blacks in St. And yesterday, it got here.Īnd last night, a lot of people across the nation saw what I experienced on the street in the Central West End, which was, you know, at one point, about a thousand protesters marching peacefully up and down a very busy commercial district of restaurants, disrupting the economy. And the edge that sort of existed in the community has taken place over a period of a couple of weeks. And this is a little bit different than what happened three years ago with Ferguson because activists have been preparing for this day. Everybody has been waiting for the verdict. MESSENGER: Well, I think for the last couple of days, it's been a city on edge. MARTIN: Tony, could you just describe the mood there now, especially over the last couple of days? Tony Messenger, thanks so much for talking to us. ![]() He's called the acquittal a familiar refrain in a nation tiring of black men being shot and killed by police. Louis Post-Dispatch metro columnist Tony Messenger has been writing about all of this. ![]() Louis surrounded the mayor's home last night, breaking windows and throwing red paint before police dispersed the crowd. Today's protest follows clashes yesterday in which there were 23 arrests and some injuries. Louis police officer named Jason Stockley was acquitted of murder in the shooting death of a 24-year-old black man, Anthony Lamar Smith, back in 2011. Today marked the second day of protests after a white former St. Louis area now, which has become the scene of a number of racially charged protests in recent years centered on police treatment of young black men. ![]()
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