(St. Louis Public Radio) – More than 80 people were arrested Sunday night, St. Louis police said, long after the official — and peaceful — protests ended. The last group of people to be arrested downtown were boxed in by police and sprayed with a chemical agent, a livestream showed, and a St. Louis Post-Dispatch staffer tweeted that one of their reporters was among them.
St. Louis Interim Police Chief Larry O’Toole provided the arrest number at a late-night news conference, where he also said people “would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“We’re in control. This is our city. And we’re going to protect it,” O’Toole said, adding later, “I’m proud to tell you the city of St. Louis is safe, and the police own the night.”
Mayor Lyda Krewson also spoke: “We have work to do in the city. We need more and better opportunities, but destruction cannot be tolerated.”
Each night since a judge found Friday that former St. Louis officer Jason Stockley (who is white) not guilty of first-degree murder in the 2011 fatal shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith (who was black), protesters have walked the city’s streets to decry what they see as a flawed criminal justice system.
Until Sunday, only 43 people had been arrested even after two nights of small groups sticking around and shattering business’ windows in the Central West End and the Delmar Loop, as well as breaking windows at the mayor’s house.
Republished with permission of St. Louis Public Radio: http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/stockley-protests-day-3-more-80-arrested-after-weekend-mostly-peaceful-demonstrations
