ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on protests in St. Louis following a white former police officer’s acquittal in the shooting death of a black suspect (all times local): 10:50 p.m. Protesters who have been demonstrating in the wake of
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on protests in St. Louis following a white former police officer’s acquittal in the shooting death of a black suspect (all times local):
10:50 p.m.
Protesters who have been demonstrating in the wake of a white former St. Louis police officer’s acquittal in a black suspect’s shooting death took to the streets of Ferguson in their latest march.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that several dozen people marched on West Florissant Avenue on Friday night, chanting and carrying “Black Lives Matter” signs. The scene was reminiscent of some of the protests that followed the fatal 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb.
The group stopped outside the Ferguson Market and later headed to the Ferguson police headquarters on South Florissant Road, where some shouted at officers who stood guard outside.
Twenty-seven-year-old protester LaShell Eikerenkoetter said it was “definitely time to come back here and pay homage to what happened in these streets. That is the reason we are still going today.”
No arrests were reported.
The renewed protests have been occurring since mid-September when a judge acquitted Jason Stockley, who was charged with first-degree murder in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith.
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3:50 p.m.
The request by St. Louis leaders to have the U.S. attorney’s office investigate police conduct at protests has been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that in a letter on Wednesday, Acting U.S. Attorney Carrie Costantin says the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division handles investigations that focus on officer discipline and training. It’s not clear if the Justice Department will investigate St. Louis police.
More than 300 arrests have been made during protests since a judge’s mid-September acquittal of white former police officer Jason Stockley in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, who was black.
Police have drawn criticism for using force and chemicals in some arrests. Mayor Lyda Krewson and interim police Chief Lawrence O’Toole asked for an independent federal investigation.
