On the third day of protests following the recent acquittal of ex-St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley in the 2011 killing of Black motorist Anthony Lamar Smith, St. Louis police made a tyrannical exertion of their authority.
Officers were reported to have been chanting: “Whose streets? Our streets!”
St. Louis Dispatch reporter David Carson was among the first to break the news about the chant.
Police just chanted "Whose Streets, our streets" on Tucker Blvd after making arrests
— David Carson (@PDPJ) September 18, 2017
The St. Louis Police Department (SLPD) denied the reports. But a Twitter video posted early Monday morning confirmed the officers were verbally harassing the protesters with chants after arresting over 80 demonstrators.
Before SLMPD claim they didn't chant "Who's streets our streets" here's the raw video that caught it https://t.co/RAvafQ9Acr
— Stlouisx50 (@stlouisx50) September 18, 2017
While the march was initially nonviolent, a group of approximately 100 people began to disturb the peace when they joined the protest by breaking windows, throwing trashcans and accosting officers. SLPD made a point of posting pictures of weapons and chemical bottles they confiscated to their Twitter account.
Thx @STLFireDept for decontaminating our officers that had more unknown chemicals thrown on them downtown. pic.twitter.com/9XJQeoBKO7
— St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) September 18, 2017
Officers confiscate bottles with unknown chemicals used to against police tonight in downtown #stl pic.twitter.com/PUaJagBzn2
— St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) September 18, 2017
On the same night, a police officer was seen driving his vehicle backwards towards a group of protesters who began dispersing. The incident was captured by Twitter user Doyle Murphy.
Here's the video the car backing down the street. No one was hit. pic.twitter.com/v6n1xHqTwq
— Doyle Murphy (@DoyleMurphy) September 18, 2017
Stockley fatally shot Smith following a police chase and alleged he believed Smith was reaching for a gun. Prosecutors claimed Stockley can be heard saying, “I’m going to kill this motherf**ker, don’t you know it” on a dashcam video.