On Friday, a few hundred protestors rallied in fifty-degree weather and drizzling rain to march through downtown St. Louis, gathering in front of Buzz Westfall Justice Center. This building contains the offices of the St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney, Bob McCulloch, the St. Louis County Jail, and additional court facilities.
Many people and journalists have questioned McCulloch’s ability to be impartial in cases involving police officers given that McCulloch’s father was a police officer killed in the line of duty at the hands of a black man. In 23 years, McCulloch has never indicted a police officer.
And, because of one woman’s tweet claiming she had been in contact with a member of the Grand Jury, which is illegal, there is an investigation about possible jury tampering.
It’s obvious why protestors marched for blocks around the city, chanting and carrying signs, eventually ending back in front of the Justice Center housing McCulloch’s offices. There is a rising call for Gov. Jay Nixon to appoint a special prosecutor to the Mike Brown case and remove McCulloch from this case.
The entrance to the Justice Center was cordoned off with police tape and over a dozen police officers were stationed outside. At one point, the bottom floor windows were lined with additional officers that worked within the building.
Outside protestors were peaceful, yet firm. In addition to many of the traditional protest chants of “No Justice, No Peace,” and “Show me what Democracy looks like, ” the protestors in St. Louis have a few chants that stuck with me.
Chant:
Indict.
Convict.
Send that killer cop to jail.
The whole damn system is guilty as hell.
Followed by continuous chants of: “Where is Darren Wilson? Where is Darren Wilson?”
Where is Darren Wilson? That’s a damn good question. Wilson has been hiding, on paid administrative leave, for 66 days.
The officers stood quietly and solemnly as protestors repeatedly asked this question and gave testimony to their experiences with gun violence and their feelings about Darren Wilson.
After some time, one of the attendees near me called over the officer in charge. I heard him quietly talking with the officer—I’m not sure if this was the first conversation the gentleman had with the officer or if he’d made this request before but here is a paraphrase of what I heard:
Would you please ask the officers to go inside? At this point, we are in a standoff. If your officers go inside, our protestors will leave.
A few moments later, the officer in charge gave a signal and all of the police stationed outside returned indoors.
Shortly thereafter the protestors began to wander away—include myself.
De-escalation is a skill that should be employed more often in these situations—especially in the St. Louis area. Some folks commented on the stark difference in the way the STLPD and the Ferguson PD respond to these situations, commenting that the Ferguson PD wouldn't have de-escalated at all.
Here is the scene after:
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