Update: June 12, 12:30 p.m.:
Expect US is planning a protest for 5 p.m. Friday in the Cicero’s parking lot on Delmar. They will be protesting the “Delmar divide,” a “long-standing symbol of the racial and socio-economic division in St. Louis,” according to the group’s Facebook page. On Facebook, 255 people marked that they were attending and over 1,000 people indicated they were interested.
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Update: June 8, 1:20 p.m.: On Monday, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson announced via Twitter and Facebook that the 9 p.m. citywide curfew has been lifted. The curfew was announced last week after a night of violence following protests in downtown St. Louis. On June 1, St. Louisans gathered to protest racism and police brutality after the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Later that night, a smaller group of protesters then vandalized businesses downtown, shot four police officers, and shot and killed retired St. Louis police captain David Dorn. In her posts, Krewson thanks both residents and businesses who abided by the curfew.
Over the weekend, protesters took to the streets in St. Louis; Kirkwood; Ladue; and Washington, Missouri, as well as Edwardsville, Illinois.
Expect US, the main group in the St. Louis area organizing nonviolent protests against racism and police brutality, has not yet announced its next event. Photos from Saturday’s event can be seen on Expect US’s Facebook page.
Update: June 5, 2:15 p.m.: Expect US has organized the next rally protesting racism and police brutality for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday in St. Charles. The demonstration will take place at an AMC parking lot, 311 Lombard. The protest will honor Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African American woman whom Louisville, Kentucky, police shot and killed on March 13 when they raided her apartment with a no-knock warrant as part of a drug sting. No drugs were found at the residence.
Update: June 5, 8:45 a.m.: On Thursday evening, Expect US organizers held an “I am George Floyd” rally for thousands to protest racism and violence against African Americans and to call for police reform. Thousands showed up at the Brentwood Promenade in Brentwood. Photos captured from drone photographer Justin Barr of STL from Above show the crowd outside of the Target in the shopping center:
As reported in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, about 300 people gathered in Florissant in a separate demonstration.
Expect US announced that the next protest would be Saturday. Details about the time and location have yet to be released.
Update: June 3, 4 p.m.: Protesters in St. Charles are currently demonstrating, marching down Highway 94. St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Sarah Teague posted video to her Twitter that shows a large group of people marching with their hands up, shouting “don’t shoot.”
Journalist Anthony Kristensen posted a video of St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer addressing the crowd. “We’re pleased to have you here today; we welcome you,” Borgmeyer said. “Many of us believe in your plight and your flight. We want to demonstrate that today by allowing you all to do what you want to do, to take your message to the people of St. Charles.”
Update: June 3, 12:15 p.m.: The next Expect US rally has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at 25 Brentwood Promenade, in Brentwood.
Update: June 2, 12:20 p.m.: For more about Mayor Lyda Krewson’s press conference with city officials, see our story here.
Update: June 2, 10:10 a.m.: After a night of violence following an otherwise peaceful protest in downtown St. Louis, Mayor Lyda Krewson announced she would be joining the city’s police and fire departments for a press conference Tuesday morning at 11. Viewers will be able to stream the mayor’s conference here.
Update: June 2, 6:55 a.m.:
According to St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden, four officers were shot Monday night after an otherwise peaceful protest over the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd turned violent in downtown St. Louis. Speaking to reporters outside of Barnes-Jewish Hospital at 2 a.m., Hayden said that the officers had been engaged with a group of 200 protesters who were throwing rocks and dumping gasoline on them. The officers have non-life-threatening injuries, reports KMOV.
Update: June 1, 9:45 p.m.:
Following a protest in downtown St. Louis over the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd, people set fire to a 7-Eleven convenience store at 17th and Pine. Floyd died while in police custody after Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on the man’s neck for eight minutes. All four officers at the scene were arrested, and Chauvin was charged with murder and manslaughter. Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country with people speaking out against police brutality and racism.
The demonstration in St. Louis began this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at the City Justice Center at 200 S. Tucker. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the demonstration wrapped up around 7:30 p.m., with a smaller portion of the protesters sticking around and the action escalating. The paper reports that protesters shot fireworks at police, and police ordered people to disperse before firing tear gas into the crowd.
Protests were also scheduled for Ferguson and O’Fallon, Missouri, on Monday. In O’Fallon, Police Chief Tim Clothier marched with protesters. That demonstration drew 1,500–2,000 people, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Update: June 1, 9:45 a.m.: Sunday brought another night of protests in St. Louis over the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd. Floyd died in police custody after a grocery store worker who suspected him of passing a counterfeit $20 bill called authorities. Video shows Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes. Floyd was handcuffed and in the prone position on the ground at the time. All four officers at the scene were fired, and Chauvin was charged with murder and manslaughter.
Floyd’s death has moved Americans across the country to protest violence and racism toward African Americans. Crowds gathered Sunday night outside the Ferguson Police Department. Video taken by KMOV’s Alexis Zotos outside the police department shows what appears to be fireworks being thrown from the crowd. The St. Louis County Police Department reported that two officers sustained minor injuries that night and were treated at the scene. Six arrests were made.
Police also stated that several area businesses were damaged. Ferguson Brewing Company wrote on Facebook that members of the community were helping clean up the damage it sustained overnight.
The next protest is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Monday at the City Justice Center, 200 S. Tucker.
Update: May 31, 6:55 a.m.: In a Sunday-morning press release, St. Louis County police detailed the late-night events that took place after a day of peaceful protests at two sites in St. Louis. It stated that from 10:15 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., gunfire was present in the area where the protests were occurring in Ferguson. Seven police officers were hurt after they were hit with rocks, bottles, and fireworks. Three were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and four were treated at the scene. Eleven police and fire cars were damaged, as well as several local businesses. The Ferguson Police Department building was damaged as well. No arrests were made.
Original story:
On Saturday, St. Louisans gathered twice to protest the death of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man who died in police custody on Monday. Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, is shown in a video kneeling on Floyd’s neck while the man, who was African-American, is handcuffed on the ground. Floyd’s death has sparked demonstrations across the country. The first protest in St. Louis on Saturday took place at 3 p.m. in Clayton, followed by a 6 p.m. protest in Ferguson.
A criminal complaint against Chauvin was released on Friday. It states that on Monday, an employee at a Minneapolis grocery store, Cup Foods, called the police after he suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit $20 bill. Officers arrived on the scene, and Floyd resisted being handcuffed. Once handcuffed, however, he was compliant until officers attempted putting him into the squad car. Floyd said he was claustrophobic and fell down. The officers made several attempts to get him into the car. Floyd, still handcuffed, was on the ground in a prone position while Chauvin kneeled on his neck for eight minutes. Footage shows Floyd telling the officer he couldn’t breathe and saying “please don’t kill me.” He then became unresponsive. An ambulance transported him to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The criminal complaint stated that “the full report of the ME [medical examiner] is pending but the ME has made the following preliminary findings. The autopsy revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation… the combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.”
All four officers at the scene were fired. Chauvin was arrested on Friday and has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
On Friday, protesters demonstrated in St. Louis City, blocking Interstate 44. One protester died after it appears he was caught between the trailers of a FedEx truck.
On Saturday, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that protests across St. Louis had remained peaceful, with hundreds gathered at both the Clayton demonstration and the one in Ferguson. Ferguson is where, in 2014, a white police officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed African-American teenager Michael Brown. Unrest and demonstrations followed the 18-year-old’s death.
On Saturday, Missouri Governor Mike Parson declared a state of emergency due to civil unrest in Missouri and said that the National Guard and Highway Patrol would be ready to assist local police. “We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of George Floyd,” the governor said in a release. “We are also saddened by the acts of violence that have transpired across our nation and state in response to this event. At this time, we are taking a proactive approach to protect Missouri and its people.”
Both St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and St. Louis County Executive Sam Page have spoken out about Floyd’s death. In a statement, Krewson said that what happened to Floyd is “unfathomable and can not be defended in any way.”
Page tweeted that “racism is a public health emergency,” adding that if St. Louisans were in crowds on Saturday, they should wear a mask to protect themselves against the novel coronavirus.
Lisa Clancy, a member of the St. Louis County Council, called on law enforcement and public officials to listen to protesters. “I support my neighbors in exercising these rights and I join with them in their calls for equity and justice,” she stated.
State Representative Rasheen Aldridge, a former Ferguson commissioner, was present at the Clayton rally. “We’re going to come together many more days,” he told the crowd in a video captured by St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum. “What we don’t do is stop. What we don’t do is give up.”
On Friday, the Ethical Society of Police, a group of advocates seeking racial and gender equality in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and St. Louis County Police Department, released the following statement:
The Ethical Society of Police is absolutely disgusted and angry over the senseless murder of Mr. George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department. We believe the decision to fire Officers Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and J Alexander Kueng for the murder of Mr. Floyd was justified. Mr. Floyd repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe,” as Officer Chauvin callously dug his knee into his neck. Officer Chauvin had no concern for the well-being of Mr. Floyd even as he called out for his mother and repeatedly pleaded for air.
Officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and J Alexander Kueng didn’t kneel on the neck of Mr. Floyd, but they were equally as complicit and cowardly with their inactions and indifference to his life.
It’s also important to note the behavior of the first medic upon his arrival to the scene. There was no sense of urgency with Mr. Floyd’s life. This medic should be fired as well. Medics take an oath to render aid to those in need without delay. This medic failed Mr. Floyd.
Unfortunately, this is one of many instances where a black life didn’t matter to law enforcement. Mr. Floyd’s life should have been treated similarly to how law enforcement around the country has treated militia armed with assault weapons who’ve stormed, shut down, and conducted initiated mock hangings at capital buildings.
In conclusion, the Ethical Society of Police is calling for the immediate termination of the medic that arrived at the scene and saw no urgency to render aid to Mr. Floyd and for murder charges to be filed against all officers involved in the murder of Mr. Floyd.
