Welcome to St. Louis, land of the Cardinals, the Gateway Arch, “toasted ravs,” and now a precedent-setting cash settlement involving police protesters and a progressive city government seemingly all too happy to dish out checks. The $4.9 million settlement stems from a protest in September of 2017, where a white police officer, Jason Stockley, was acquitted in the shooting death of a black man, Anthony Lamar Smith. Protesters of the acquittal claim that police surrounded roughly 120 people who St. Louis Police say did not follow orders to disperse. Others who were at the protest say that police used excessive force and used pepper spray on people who were in the vicinity of the protest but were not actually protesting. The class-action lawsuit was brought by protesters who claimed that their right to protest was violated when police surrounded them in what is known as a “kettle” and arrested everyone inside the surrounded area.Read More
St. Louis Police Protesters Cash in as City Issues Settlement Checks
