St. Louis Protesters Tried To Block A Freeway And It Did Not Go Well

ST. LOUIS, MO - SEPTEMBER 15: Law enforcement officers stand guard at an interstate onramp during a protest action following a not guilty verdict on September 15, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. Protests erupted today following the acquittal of former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley, who was charged with first-degree murder last year in the shooting death of motorist Anthony Lamar Smith in 2011. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

Anders Hagstrom on October 4, 2017

St. Louis police arrested more than 120 protesters blocking a highway Tuesday night as the city entered its third straight week of protests surrounding a former officer’s acquittal for murder charges.

While police did not release the number of people arrested, a city alderman told reporters that at least 126 had been taken into custody, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Police warned drivers of the protest at 7:40 p.m. CDT and had cleared the freeway of protesters soon after 8 p.m. Police corralled the group off the road, ordered them to the ground and began systematically handcuffing them and putting them in vans for transport.

Bruce Franks Jr., a Missouri state rep. who has participated in several protests, seems to have been among those arrested.

The incident was the second mass arrest since the Sept. 15 acquittal of former officer James Stockley in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Clark. Police arrested 130 protesters in a Sept. 17 “kettling” operation, an action that prompted misconduct lawsuits from the ACLU and others.

Steven Hoffman, a legal observer for the National Lawyers Guild who was there to monitor police behavior, said police didn’t use chemical agents while making arrests, according to the Post-Dispatch. The detail is crucial as the ACLU’s earlier lawsuit centers on police misusing chemicals like pepper spray during the previous mass arrest.

No retaliatory lawsuits have yet been filed in the wake of Tuesday night’s arrests.

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