A group of peaceful protesters assembled in St. Louis on Sunday afternoon, marking a third consecutive day of demonstrations against the acquittal of a former police officer who fatally shot a black suspect.
At around 3 p.m. local time, protesters began gathering outside St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department headquarters. In a tweet shortly after they began assembling, the department characterized the gathering as a ″[p]eaceful demonstration.”
Protesters have been taking to St. Louis streets since Friday, when a judge acquitted white former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley, 36, for fatally shooting black drug suspect Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, in 2011.
Stockley, who shot Smith five times after the man fled from him and his partner during an attempted arrest, testified that he saw Smith holding a revolver. Prosecutors allege that Stockley planted the gun in Smith’s car after the shooting, as the weapon carried his DNA but not Smith’s. In a video obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Stockley can be heard saying that he’s “going to kill this motherf****r,” just minutes before he shot Smith.
While isolated instances of violence during Friday and Saturday protests led to arrests, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson ― whose home was damaged by some protesters ― emphasized that the demonstrations have been largely peaceful.
“It may not look like it in the media, but yesterday’s protests were mostly non-violent,” she said in a statement Saturday. “Unfortunately, we had incidents of sporadic violence and vandalism that will be the lasting images written about and played on television.”
The HuffPost bus can be seen with the Gateway Arch in the background in Illinois on Sept. 11 as "Listen to America: A HuffPost Road Trip" kicks off. The bus will visit more than 20 cities on our tour across the country.
HuffPost and Peak XV Global Events complete preparations for the bus tour.
HuffPost staff in front of a mural at The Grove business district.
A nighttime walk down a St. Louis street.
HuffPost staff play pool at the HandleBar in St. Louis.
Reporter Jenna Amatulli rides a bike sculpture in front of the HandleBar.
Signs for The Grove business district cast a glow on St. Louis streets.
The iconic Gateway Arch.
The pods inside the Gateway Arch empty before another run to the top.
Jolie Doggett sits in a pod headed to the top of the arch.
Tourists look out the windows at the top of the Gateway Arch.
A view of the city from the top of the arch.
The Mississippi River and Illinois can be seen from the top of the arch.
Harry Weber's statue of rock legend Chuck Berry, a St. Louis native, is in Delmar Loop across from Blueberry Hill.
The HuffPost tour bus.
HuffPost Editor-in-Chief Lydia Polgreen with her wife, Candy Feit, left, and strategy director Hillary Frey talk before the "Listen to America: A HuffPost Road Trip" kickoff event.
HuffPost Editor-in-Chief Lydia Polgreen speaks to the crowd at the St. Louis stop.
Rev. Starsky Wilson speaks with artist Robert Powell.
The HuffPost tour bus stops at Kiener Plaza Park near the Gateway Arch.
HuffPost Editor-in-Chief Lydia Polgreen is interviewed.
Artist and educator Robert Powell, left, talks with Chris King, editorial director of the St. Louis American.
Dr. Donald Suggs, owner of the St. Louis American, speaks at the kickoff event.
The tour bus.
Producer Will Tooke prepares to conduct an interview on the bus with David Wraith of Sex Positive St. Louis.
The HuffPost bus at The Loop.
Reporter Jenna Amatulli uses the microphone to speak to passersby.
Hip-hop artist Quizzy James and Lena Anderson check out a post card.
Reporter Jenna Amatulli, left and "Noskov at Night" radio host Vladimir Noskov listen to Jeremiah Long.
The HuffPost Tour bus outside The Royale restaurant and bar in South City St. Louis.
At The Royale before the "Three Years After Ferguson: Seeking Solutions in St. Louis" event.
St. Louis American Editorial Director Chris King speaks to police Sgt. Kevin Ahlbrand, left, lawyer Blake Strode, organizer and activist Kayla Reed, Alderwoman Megan E. Green and Rev. Starsky Wilson.
The audience at the "Three Years After Ferguson: Seeking Solutions in St. Louis" event.
St. Louis organizer and activist Kayla Reed talks about the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Lawyer Blake Strode on the panel about Ferguson's after-effects.
Rev. Starsky D. Wilson is president and CEO of Deaconess Foundation and former leader of the Ferguson Commission.
