Earlier this month, I published an article on Truthout examining the continuing resistance to police violence in St. Louis. The article explains the roots of the latest uprising, the cable news blackout that has kept most Americans from learning about it, escalating police responses to continuing protests, and reforms introduced in the city’s Board of Alders that could, if adopted, limit future surveillance by local police. It observes:
Rather than reflect an isolated occurrence, police violence responding to protests (protests that were, of course, sparked in response to police violence) constitute an apparent pattern and practice. On Sunday, September 24, police responding to protests downtown not only arrested more than 120 people en masse, but also meted out seemingly random violence. Police assaulted — and viciously injured — not only dozens of civilians protesting police violence, but also an undercover police officer among them, as well as journalists. Victims of the assault included an active duty Air Force officer who was not participating in the protests but merely lived nearby and was reportedly “kicked in the face, blinded by pepper spray and dragged away.”
Reacting to mounting public alarm, the office of Mayor Lyda Krewson stated, “The allegations are disturbing.” City prosecutor Kim Gardner proposed to local policymakers that her office be given independent authority to investigate and prosecute police misconduct. As Gardner argued, “Both the community and police deserve an objective, fair and transparent investigation, and it is no longer acceptable for police to be essentially investigating themselves.”