St. Louis mayor to meet with protesters
after nights of violence
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[September 19, 2017]
By Greg Bailey
ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - Activists in St.
Louis plan to voice their concerns directly to the mayor on Tuesday over
the acquittal of a white policeman who shot a black man to death, a
verdict that sparked four night of violent protest.
Mayor Lyda Krewson will speak with residents at a town hall meeting at a
local high school, hoping to defuse tensions in a city where
demonstrators have clashed with police and destroyed property.
"Let's show up and hold Mayor Lyda Krewson accountable," Resist - STL,
an activist group, said on Facebook.
The town hall meeting comes four days after a judge found former police
officer Jason Stockley, 36, not guilty of first-degree murder in the
2011 killing of Anthony Lamar Smith, 24.
Largely peaceful protests during the day have turned violent at night
with some demonstrators carrying guns, bats and hammers, smashing
windows, clashing with police and blocking traffic.
Police arrested 123 people on Sunday, when officers in riot gear used
pepper spray on activists who defied orders to disperse following
larger, peaceful protests. Several hundred people marched again on
Monday night in a peaceful demonstration as on-and-off rain appeared to
keep some at home.
St. Louis police are investigating whether some of its officers chanted
"Whose streets? Our streets," appropriating a refrain used by the
protesters themselves in what one official said could inflame tensions.
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Demonstrators hold up their mobile phones as they continue to
protest for a fourth day after the not guilty verdict in the murder
trial of Jason Stockley, a former St. Louis police officer, charged
with the 2011 shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith, who was black, in St.
Louis, Missouri, U.S., September 18, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Lott
A grainy video posted online showed a group of officers and the
chant can be heard. A St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer, David
Carson, tweeted that he and others heard officers chant the phrase.
Nicolle Barton, executive director of the St. Louis police civilian
oversight board, said: "Certainly we do not want that to be taking
place."
The clashes have evoked memories of riots following the 2014
shooting of a black teenager by a white officer in nearby Ferguson.
(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwawukee; Editing by
Robin Pomeroy)
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