Hundreds, if not 1,000 or more, protesters demonstrated peacefully outside the St. Louis police headquarters this afternoon for roughly two hours before going on the march.
The protesters filled the streets, chanting and leading a die-in, while police officers watched from a distance. Olive was shut down from 18th to 20th streets during the hours of demonstration.
The action was entirely without incident for its two hours in front of the police building, which is located at Olive and 20th Street. At one point, protesters were still for six minutes of silence — noting that it's been six years since Anthony Lamar Smith was killed by then-St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley. Stockley's acquittal Friday has kicked off days of protests (see here, and here).
RFT staffers who went to the roof of the paper's office at 21st Street and Locust were surprised to discover snipers camped out there. (The RFT is just one of many tenants; the officers told our photographer that they had the building owner's permission.)
At any rate, the gunman were polite to the photographer who joined them.
The RFT's Doyle Murphy shot the video below as the protesters headed from downtown towards Midtown, taking a few quick maneuvers seemingly designed to outwit (or at least get ahead of) police officers as those assembled marched to Chaiffetz Arena.
Then they marched through the campus of Saint Louis University.
— Doyle Murphy (@DoyleMurphy) September 17, 2017
Stopped by a police line at Grand and Forest Park, protesters changed course. They remain on the march. Police seem willing to let them have the streets, but are not letting them get on the highway.
On the SLU campus, the protesters reportedly got a warm welcome from a few local Jesuits.
There was a tense moment with folks & police w/ batons & visors. Leaders pulled protesters back. Now handshakes in street from SLU priests. pic.twitter.com/05qATqF7da
— Ashley Jost (@ajost) September 17, 2017
After their journey through SLU, the protesters then circled back to downtown, as shown in this video by the RFT's Danny Wicentowski, shot at the roof of the RFT's building at 21st Street and Locust.
The video shows a protest that stretches for blocks:
#JasonStockley protest stretching.downtown blocks, followed by cops at a distance pic.twitter.com/eluzvTf0Rd
— Danny Wicentowski (@D_Towski) September 17, 2017
The protest largely finished by 8 p.m. The crowd began to disperse, without hundreds going home. Only a hundred or so people continued to march, heading east further into downtown.
It was at that point that some agitators broke windows on Olive.
Crowd just pushed through a barricaded stage setup outside Central Library now continuing downtown #stlprotest pic.twitter.com/Ppb6kzC7RN
— Casey Nolen KSDK (@CaseyNolen) September 18, 2017
Police arrived, and reportedly began shooting rubber bullets. KMOV's Alexis Zotos captured some video of police warning they could deploy tear gas:
RIGHT NOW in Downtown: they have warned us tear gas could be deployed. People are driving around walking their dogs. pic.twitter.com/37F4NrCfyl
— Alexis Zotos (@alexiszotos) September 18, 2017
At 8:50 p.m., police gave official orders to disperse. "This is no longer a peaceful protest," they tweeted.
We have reports of significant property damage in Downtown #STL. Will update soon. #STLVerdict
— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) September 18, 2017
Police giving order to disperse immediately at Tucker and Pine. This is no longer a peaceful protest. #stlverdict
— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) September 18, 2017
Officers in personal protection gear have arrived on the scene in Downtown to disperse unruly crowd. #STLVerdict
— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) September 18, 2017
Police say they have made multiple arrests, and warn that commuters downtown may face "delays and temporary street closures."
Criminals have caused serious property damage in the downtown area. This destruction will not be tolerated. #stlverdict pic.twitter.com/qNl2VwTVmp
— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) September 18, 2017
See also: Peaceful Protests Draw 1,000+ to Delmar Loop
