ACLU Files Suit Against St. Louis, Alleging Civil Rights Violations Against Protesters - Sensationalist Headlines

[quote]The ACLU of Missouri has filed a class action lawsuit against the city of St. Louis on behalf of protesters — alleging the city has retaliated against them for expressing their right to free speech, unreasonably seized them, applied undue force and violated their due process rights with methods including "kettling," gassing them and spraying them without fair warning. The lawsuit was filed today in federal court on behalf of lead plaintiffs Maleeha Ahmad (who appears on the cover of this week's RFT and in the photo above after being hit with pepper spray downtown last Friday) and Alison Dreith, who was also pepper-sprayed at the downtown protest. Dreith is also executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri. See also: Protests Break Out in Downtown St. Louis After Cop Is Acquitted Both Dreith and Ahmad were protesting downtown on the afternoon of Friday, September 15. That was just hours after the announcement that former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley had been found not guilty of murder — and well before any of the damage that would result later in the weekend following the end of organized protests. Neither has been charged with any crime. "I think everyone deserves the same rights as I do. I just want peace and justice,” Ahmad said in a prepared statement. “If it hadn’t been for my fellow peaceful protestors – strangers who came to my aid — I don’t know how my eyesight would be today. I would have been left out in the sun, on the ground, with my face burning.”[/quote] [url]https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2017/09/22/aclu-files-suit-against-st-louis-alleging-civil-rights-violations-against-protesters[/url]

ACLU does good work

[QUOTE=Lambeth;52709626]ACLU does good work[/QUOTE] They're a great organization but hilariously there's a lot of people biased against them because they think they're biased towards left wing issues. My mom thinks they're leftists and only helped the Charlottesville Alt-right people "because they had to to not look like hypocrites" What a surprise, an organization that fights for CIVIL RIGHTS comes off left leaning

I can only offer anecdotes, but have heard some ugly stories from friends present at the protests over the past couple of days. Many officers are being combative, insulting, and dismissive towards peaceful protesters on the streets. They are jumping to force [I]extremely[/I] quickly, and blocking off "escape routes" after ordering protesters to disperse so that they [I]cannot[/I] actually disperse. After doing so, they've been firing tear gas and pepper ball rounds into the crowds, resulting in hundreds of arrests so far with no other charges filed than "failure to disperse." A prominent local business owner was also attacked by officers. He stood outside Pi Pizzeria, in the Delmar Loop, handing out free water and slices of pizza to protesters, who gave him no trouble. After the crowd had moved on, he was sitting on the patio with some diners talking when a line of police with riot shield, tear gas launchers, and rifles rounded the corner and began firing shots (pepper balls, most likely) into the air. The police advanced towards the restaurant, and the business owner refused to abandon it and his patrons. He cursed at them, and they fired tear gas at him and his patrons. They fled inside and the officers charged the building, trying to break through the door. The business owner took video of the entire confrontation, marveling that the only danger he felt for himself, his staff, and his business came at the hands of the Metropolitan Police Department, not the protesters they were there to corral. The police union responded by urging "supporters of police" to "exercise their free speech" by harassing the business owner and employees, and posted all public phone numbers to aid in that harassment. The business has been receiving overwhelming numbers of calls, emails, social media comments, etc containing threats and abuse. Apparently, this business owner is one of the people being asked to testify on the civil rights violations of the police by the ACLU. I've met the guy before. Nice dude, fantastic pizza. Quite active in the loop's small business crowd.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;52709673]I can only offer anecdotes, but have heard some ugly stories from friends present at the protests over the past couple of days. Many officers are being combative, insulting, and dismissive towards peaceful protesters on the streets. They are jumping to force [I]extremely[/I] quickly, and blocking off "escape routes" after ordering protesters to disperse so that they [I]cannot[/I] actually disperse. After doing so, they've been firing tear gas and pepper ball rounds into the crowds, resulting in hundreds of arrests so far with no other charges filed than "failure to disperse." A prominent local business owner was also attacked by officers. He stood outside Pi Pizzeria, in the Delmar Loop, handing out free water and slices of pizza to protesters, who gave him no trouble. After the crowd had moved on, he was sitting on the patio with some diners talking when a line of police with riot shield, tear gas launchers, and rifles rounded the corner and began firing shots (pepper balls, most likely) into the air. The police advanced towards the restaurant, and the business owner refused to abandon it and his patrons. He cursed at them, and they fired tear gas at him and his patrons. They fled inside and the officers charged the building, trying to break through the door. The business owner took video of the entire confrontation, marveling that the only danger he felt for himself, his staff, and his business came at the hands of the Metropolitan Police Department, not the protesters they were there to corral. [B]The police union responded by urging "supporters of police" to "exercise their free speech" by harassing the business owner and employees, and posted all public phone numbers to aid in that harassment.[/B] The business has been receiving overwhelming numbers of calls, emails, social media comments, etc containing threats and abuse. Apparently, this business owner is one of the people being asked to testify on the civil rights violations of the police by the ACLU. I've met the guy before. Nice dude, fantastic pizza. Quite active in the loop's small business crowd.[/QUOTE] What the fuck? Police-sanctioned doxxing? Disgusting.

[QUOTE=LZTYBRN;52709640]They're a great organization but hilariously there's a lot of people biased against them because they think they're biased towards left wing issues. My mom thinks they're leftists and only helped the Charlottesville Alt-right people "because they had to to not look like hypocrites" What a surprise, an organization that fights for CIVIL RIGHTS comes off left leaning[/QUOTE] It's kind of a stupid argument considering they defended Nazi's right to protest all the way back in 1978.

[QUOTE=joshuadim;52709707]What the fuck? Police-sanctioned doxxing? Disgusting.[/QUOTE] Less surprising when you know that the head of our police union is Jeff Roorda. :v: Roorda is corrupt to the core. He is the embodiment of everything [I]wrong[/I] with our police force. He is a driver of the bullshit and corruption that has caused racial tensions and police protests in STL to be so high, and is a hugely inflammatory figure who regularly insults, demeans, harasses, and encourages the physical abuse of protesters. Roorda has been caught giving false testimony and making false arrest reports to protect abusive police officers: [quote][...]the record reveals that in July 1997, Roorda attempted to try to “cover” for another police officer by filing a report that contained false statements as to what happened during a suspect's apprehension and arrest.   As a result of this false report, all charges against the defendant involved were dropped, and Roorda received a written reprimand[...][/quote] He is opposed to any and all recording devices on police officers because "they only show one angle of an encounter" (IE-- expose his lies, and the lies of other corrupt officers). [quote]Jeff Roorda, executive director of the St. Louis Police Officers Association, said the organization has had concerns about dashboard cameras in use on many city patrol cars and would have the same worries about on-body devices. Roorda, who also is a Democratic state representative, said both types of cameras provide video of “one angle of an encounter” that sometimes doesn’t reflect exactly what happened. [B]“In general, cameras have been bad for law enforcement and the communities they protect,” he said. “It causes constant second-guessing by the courts and the media.”[/B][/quote] Well, gee, I wonder why he would say th- [quote](KMOV) – A former St. Louis police officer is under fire after surveillance video surfaced showing him assault a handcuffed suspect, according to authorities[...] Officer Bruce can be heard saying: “Stand out here with us...you lying piece of s***.” [B]Words are exchanged and then; “It’s one forearm blow as he’s trained to do,” said Jeff Roorda with the St. Louis Police Officer’s Association. Roorda says he can see Bruce crouched down and the suspect moving forward. He says Bruce was only defending himself.[/B] [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h65WaOSS6sE[/media][/quote] Right. Self defense. Roorda likes "self defensing" unarmed people, as well. [quote] Two years ago, an aldermanic committee hearing was flung into chaos when[B] the spokesman for the St. Louis Police Officers Association, Jeff Roorda, [shoved] a woman in the audience, sparking a scuffle that was caught by TV news crews[/B] and immediately shared to viral-status by livestreamers[...] Protesters and Black Lives Matter activists also came to the hearing that day, resulting in an overflow crowd in the City Hall meeting room. Things started going downhill when[B] Roorda objected to the murmuring/heckling that accompanied a police officer's testimony[/B]. "Come on, mister chairman, how about some order here, huh?" Roorda yelled at the committee's chair, Alderman Terry Kennedy. The outburst only increased the crowd's jeering. When they quieted, Kennedy retorted to Roorda: "Excuse me, first of all, you do not tell me my function." At this point, [B]Roorda attempted to muscle his way toward the front of the room. Video footage shows Roorda pushing aside Currie just before the crowd closes in around him[/B].[/quote] And lying about what happened (again)... [quote]Roorda, however, claimed that [B]he[/B] was the [I]real victim[/I], and that it was Currie and other "[B]anti-police radicals[/B]" who attacked him on the way to the podium. He elaborated when questioned by the Guardian, saying he only grabbed Currie to steady himself after she allegedly elbowed him and stamped on his feet. [/quote] Seems like he's not a fan of protesters in general. Or, in fact, of [I]anybody[/I] criticizing police treatment of minorities. Surely, he'd never cross the line into overtly offensive racial comments, though-- [quote]An alderman who is running for St. Louis mayor has asked the union representing city police officers to fire their business manager, Jeff Roorda, over a [B]social media attack leveled at another (black) mayoral candidate.[/B] Thursday evening's statement from Alderman Lyda Krewson, D-28th Ward, targets Roorda's Facebook post that [B]called city Treasurer Tishaura Jones a race-baiter and, in a second post, "the worst person to occupy skin."[/B][/quote] I mean, I could go on, but I think I've made my point. The head of the Saint Louis Police Union is a [B]massive dirtbag[/B], and living embodiment of everything wrong with Saint Louis law enforcement. He actively threatens, assaults, and insults everybody and anybody who is even remotely critical of law enforcement actions. He wants to [B]reduce[/B] police accountability, [B]increase[/B] the armed response against protesters, and is [B]opposed[/B] to technology like body cameras on the grounds that it makes it more difficult to fabricate evidence and narratives that are supportive of police assaults on unarmed people (which Roorda has been caught doing [I]twice[/I]). So, the Police Union publicly calling for the harassment of a local business owner who posted evidence of police abuse? That's about par for the course, with Roorda in the mix.

This police department also tweeted and hashtagged the names and addresses of arrested protestors. [img]https://i.imgur.com/nVkdgyl.png[/img] And aggressively chanted 'Whose streets? Our streets' after violently breaking up a protest surrounding the killing of a black man by that same police department [url]https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police-practices/st-louis-polices-chants-whose-streets-our[/url] Chilling, to say the least.

[QUOTE=Cyanlime;52710551]This police department also tweeted and hashtagged the names and addresses of arrested protestors. [img]https://i.imgur.com/nVkdgyl.png[/img] And aggressively chanted 'Whose streets? Our streets' after violently breaking up a protest surrounding the killing of a black man by that same police department [url]https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police-practices/st-louis-polices-chants-whose-streets-our[/url] Chilling, to say the least.[/QUOTE] [quote]Make no mistake, the police were sending a clear and chilling message to communities of color in St. Louis: We do not care about your pain and frustration. We do not care about the complicity of law enforcement in past and present harms to communities of color. We do not care about your outrage at a white police officer who said he was “going to kill this motherfucker,” before shooting Anthony Smith five times, and then allegedly planting a gun in Smith’s car. And this message is being delivered by not just any police department, but the deadliest police force in the United States. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department kills its residents at a higher rate than any police department among the nation’s 100 most populous cities.[/quote] Very well said.

St Louis has a reputation for having a violent police department. Then again, just about every Rust Belt city I have been in, which is quiet a few, the cops tend to be that way. One of the videos I did watch actually showed the protestors at first refusing to disperse, but what caught me off guard the most was one of the things the police were actually doing. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlUX1HrV9p8[/media] @35:00 you can hear a pretty haunting rhythm. The sound of wood bashing up against plastic, in a very band like march. For those which are not aware of the tactic, it's shield bashing. They are effectively putting out the message, "We are ready for war, lets play." while also letting them know that they are carrying wood batons, which hurt like a motherfucker when you get hit by them.

At 37:00 you see the police doing what I mentioned earlier: blocking in peaceful protesters so they they [I]can't[/I] actually disperse when ordered to. More than that, the police are actually seen [I]grabbing people from outside the cordon[/I] and shoving them in. They surround the peacefully assembled protesters, block all exits, bang their shields, and eventually charge in and start pepper spraying people and beating indiscriminately. They arrest everybody, even the people thrown into the kettle by officers themselves. When one of the officers sees the cameraman recording, they hit him with several sprays of mace, eventually throwing him to the ground and beating him too. Fucking disgusting. These people aren't rioting, they are peacefully protesting. The [B]officers[/B] were the [B]real[/B] danger to society during these protests. We [I]need[/I] federal oversight of Saint Louis police officers. This shit has got to stop.

Is there any precedent to the complete and utter dissolution of a police force? It seems to me that St. Louis needs to completely rebuild their department from the ground up with federal oversight. Though with the current federal administration, that probably will just make things worse... Also I think it's fair to say that the citizens need to mobilize against their own police department when the riot cops are actively seeking to harm them. Gangs would do a better job at keeping peace at this point.

[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;52710672]St Louis has a reputation for having a violent police department. Then again, just about every Rust Belt city I have been in, which is quiet a few, the cops tend to be that way. One of the videos I did watch actually showed the protestors at first refusing to disperse, but what caught me off guard the most was one of the things the police were actually doing. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlUX1HrV9p8[/media] @35:00 you can hear a pretty haunting rhythm. The sound of wood bashing up against plastic, in a very band like march. For those which are not aware of the tactic, it's shield bashing. They are effectively putting out the message, "We are ready for war, lets play." while also letting them know that they are carrying wood batons, which hurt like a motherfucker when you get hit by them.[/QUOTE] :bullshit: this is frightening

[url]http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/undercover-cop-air-force-officer-med-student-among-those-police/article_e2dcc3de-f228-5311-a35f-e60e1bd9ebee.amp.html[/url] Among those indiscriminately beaten, pepper sprayed, and arrested were a documentarian, an air Force officer just having an evening stroll with his wife, and an undercover police officer. [Quote]They were among more than 120 people forcibly arrested downtown on Sunday by St. Louis police cracking down on protests. The arrests came at least two hours after vandals had broken some windows and flower pots a few blocks away. The police were congratulated by their acting police chief, who said they “owned tonight,” and got praise from Gov. Eric Greitens for their tactics. But as more details emerged about heavy-handed police tactics, criticism mounted. A lawyer for the Post-Dispatch condemned the “inappropriate and disturbing” arrest of one of its journalists. A lawsuit on Friday alleged that the police violated people’s civil rights. And two top city officials on different days used the word “disturbing” to describe allegations of abusive police.[/quote] [Quote] On Friday, Mayor Lyda Krewson asked the director of public safety to investigate how [B]an undercover officer became bloodied during his arrest Sunday[/B] when he was mistaken for a suspect believed to be carrying chemicals that could be sprayed on officers. “The allegations are disturbing,” Krewson’s spokesman Koran Addo wrote in a statement. City Counselor Julian Bush on Wednesday also called the allegations disturbing. The incident began when two uniformed officers near the protest ordered the man to show his hands, sources said. When he refused, [B]they knocked him down and hit him at least three times [/B]and zip tied his hands behind his back. When he stood up, his mouth was bloodied, the sources said. Commanders the next day told the officers they had arrested one of their own.[/quote] [Quote]Lt. Alex Nelson, 27, who works in cyberoperations at Scott Air Force Base, [B]was walking around his neighborhood with his wife when they became trapped between quickly closing police lines. He said he was kicked in the face, blinded by pepper spray and dragged away[/B]. “It’s our street,” he said. “I hear the police say it was their street, but it’s literally my street. I have coffee on that street, and I own property on that street. We were not active protesters. We were looking into the neighborhood to observe events that were unfolding. “I’m very sad how they treated me and my wife through the escalation of violence they used on me. It was incredibly unnecessary. [B]I’ve had training on how to arrest and be arrested, and I capitulated to every demand that was made of me, even before I was on the ground[/B]. We were told to move back, and we moved back. We were told to move this way, we moved this way. We obeyed every command that we heard. We were never given an order to disperse. Not once.”[/quote] [Quote] A documentary filmmaker from Kansas City, visiting with his wife, said he was knocked unconscious during the sweep. Drew Burbridge, 32, said he never heard orders to disperse until officers started to advance, banging their batons and chanting, “Move back.” “I turned my camera off and asked if there was anywhere I could go, but I was denied the right to leave,” he said. “I didn’t want to be a part of this.” Officers ordered him to turn his camera off and get down on the ground, and he complied. “The only thing I cared about then was putting my arms around my wife,” he said. “I just, I just kept saying: ‘It’s going to be OK.’” Burbridge said officers then grabbed him by both his arms and dragged him away. “I just said: ‘I am a member of the media, I am not protesting, I am not resisting,’” Burbridge said. An officer sprayed his face with a chemical, his head was forced into the ground and an officer ripped his camera from his neck. Burbridge claims his hands were then bound by zip ties before two [B]officers started kicking him in the back, neck, arm and legs while he lay restrained on the ground. He said he was knocked unconscious on the pavement for about 10 to 30 seconds.[/B] [B]After he came to, Burbridge said an officer lifted his head by his hair and pepper sprayed him in the face again.[/B][/quote]

Holy shit. It sounds like a good time to call in the national guard to protect the protesters from the police.

I haven't heard about this protest, what is it about?

these cops are rotten

[QUOTE=SIRIUS;52711162]I haven't heard about this protest, what is it about?[/QUOTE] [video=youtube;FmJk3V8Dsck]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmJk3V8Dsck[/video] On the surface, it looks like a pretty cut and dry case of self defense After all, the shooting victim was a drug dealer. However, the evidence tells a more concerning story. Moments before the shooting, the officer who fired the fatal shots is caught on video saying, "we're going to kill this motherfucker." Immediately after the shooting, the officer goes to his vehicle and is seen rooting around in his personal bag, with his back to the camera. The officer then goes to the suspect's vehicle and climbs in through the driver's side door, where he "discovers" the weapon. Forensic evidence found the officer's DNA on an [I]internal[/I] surface of the weapon, beneath a screw. The victim's DNA was found nowhere on the weapon. Additionally, we know that the officer DID have personal weapons with him. He's seen putting his AK 47 back in his vehicle before rooting through his bag. So, while the victim was certainly no angel, there is legitimate concern over the officer having lied about shooting him in self defense, and planting a gun to justify his claim.

[QUOTE=SIRIUS;52711162]I haven't heard about this protest, what is it about?[/QUOTE] Same as usual. The prosecutors dropped the ball and couldn't prove the charges, so the officer was found not guilty.

Aren't protestors meant to be the baddies of police anyway? It's like the bad bloke in Robocop, you know he's a bad bloke because Robocop doesn't like him. Or like Dad's Army. [editline]23rd September 2017[/editline] Seems like COBRA complaining because GI Joooooooooooooooooooooooe stopped him from being a baddy, to me.

[QUOTE=Chris Morris;52711529]Aren't protestors meant to be the baddies of police anyway? It's like the bad bloke in Robocop, you know he's a bad bloke because Robocop doesn't like him. Or like Dad's Army. [editline]23rd September 2017[/editline] Seems like COBRA complaining because GI Joooooooooooooooooooooooe stopped him from being a baddy, to me.[/QUOTE] Things aren't that black and white?

[QUOTE=Lambeth;52711560]Things aren't that black and white?[/QUOTE] Yes, I'm aware.

[QUOTE=Chris Morris;52711529]Aren't protestors meant to be the baddies of police anyway? It's like the bad bloke in Robocop, you know he's a bad bloke because Robocop doesn't like him. Or like Dad's Army. [editline]23rd September 2017[/editline] Seems like COBRA complaining because GI Joooooooooooooooooooooooe stopped him from being a baddy, to me.[/QUOTE] What are you trying to say? :s:

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;52711755]What are you trying to say? :s:[/QUOTE] I was taking the piss out of people who say that protestors should expect to be harrassed by police merely for protesting.

[QUOTE=SIRIUS;52711162]I haven't heard about this protest, what is it about?[/QUOTE] An officer murdered a man in cold blood - before his arrest he called out he was going to kill him - and after it was all said and done he tried to plant a gun, succeeded, and got himself to be the officer to handle the evidence, which he then torched the gun to remove his prints and DNA, but they still found his DNA (and only his DNA) under a screw of the gun. And he got away with it, avoiding a trial by his peers at a jury, and got a favorable judge to decide to set him free (and the judge ignored half the evidence btw). So yeah, after a St. Louis officer murders a man in cold blood, the department is attacking people in the streets using 'rioting' as an excuse to beat the shit out of normal people.

[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;52711909]An officer murdered a man in cold blood - before his arrest he called out he was going to kill him - and after it was all said and done he tried to plant a gun, succeeded, and got himself to be the officer to handle the evidence, which he then torched the gun to remove his prints and DNA, but they still found his DNA (and only his DNA) under a screw of the gun. And he got away with it, avoiding a trial by his peers at a jury, and got a favorable judge to decide to set him free (and the judge ignored half the evidence btw).[/QUOTE] You might want to look up "beyond a reasonable doubt".

[QUOTE=ForgottenKane;52711909]An officer murdered a man in cold blood - before his arrest he called out he was going to kill him - and after it was all said and done he tried to plant a gun, succeeded, and got himself to be the officer to handle the evidence, which he then torched the gun to remove his prints and DNA, but they still found his DNA (and only his DNA) under a screw of the gun. And he got away with it, avoiding a trial by his peers at a jury, and got a favorable judge to decide to set him free (and the judge ignored half the evidence btw). So yeah, after a St. Louis officer murders a man in cold blood, the department is attacking people in the streets using 'rioting' as an excuse to beat the shit out of normal people.[/QUOTE] Where are you seeing anything about the gun being "torched?"

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;52712185]Where are you seeing anything about the gun being "torched?"[/QUOTE] It was mentioned in one of the articles you originally posted about this in an stltoday article. I'll look it up now. [editline]24th September 2017[/editline] Actually I think you just posted in the thread, because I'm looking through your thread history and it's not there. Basically the article talked about how an investigator noticed it being "strange." The judge didn't consider this at all. [editline]24th September 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Silence I Kill You;52712149]You might want to look up "beyond a reasonable doubt".[/QUOTE] You keep saying this despite ignoring people who point out the judge specifically tried to not consider swathes of evidence. [editline]24th September 2017[/editline] Just found articles mentioning it, it was Lt. Kirk Deeken who noted that the gun's handle was discolored in photos taken [i]after[/i] Stockley had it in the lab, assumed it was blood on the gun, and when he got it he found no traces of anything other than Stockley's DNA under the screw. Nothing directly mentioning 'torched,' someone must've mentioned it in the thread and I went along with it, but Deeken testified multiple times how he found it very strange and unusual.

None of the articles or information I've read has noted anything about the gun being put to the flame, only that the officer's DNA evidence was found on an internal surface of the weapon (which is still pretty damning, of course). The judge did offhandedly dismiss the DNA evidence, however, which is extremely frustrating. More frustrating is the reason [I]why[/I] he dismissed it: the victim was an "urban" drug dealer and thus it would have been an "anomaly" for him [I]not[/I] to have had a weapon. Basically, he threw away hard forensic science in favor of his own racially biased perception about what's normal for "urban" (black) people.

[QUOTE=LZTYBRN;52709640]They're a great organization but hilariously there's a lot of people biased against them because they think they're biased towards left wing issues. My mom thinks they're leftists and only helped the Charlottesville Alt-right people "because they had to to not look like hypocrites" What a surprise, an organization that fights for CIVIL RIGHTS comes off left leaning[/QUOTE] conservatives know no hypocrisy