BREAKING: Thugs Protest In St. Louis Over White Officer / Black Male Shooting

Violent protests have broken out in St. Louis, Missouri, after former police officer Jason Stockley was found not guilty of murdering Anthony Smith in 2011 after a high-speed chase following a suspected drug deal.

• Four officers have been injured and one police car has been vandalized.
• Protestors have been pepper sprayed for attempting to block police travel.
• Police blocked protestors from getting on a major highway, so they marched to police headquarters.
• Local businesses closed and sent employees home early due to the protests.

What happened in 2011?

• Stockley and his partner attempted to arrest Smith during a suspected drug deal.
• Smith fled and a chase that reached speeds of 90 mph ensued through local neighborhoods.
• Officers stopped Smith by ramming his vehicle, and Stockley, believing Smith was concealing a weapon, shot Smith five times, killing him.
• A handgun and a bag of heroin was found in the vehicle. The handgun only had Stockley’s DNA on it. The heroin had Smith’s DNA on it.

Why was Stockley accused of premeditated murder?

• Prosecutors accused Stockley of planting the weapon in Smith’s vehicle after the fact.
• During the chase, Stockley was heard on the in-car camera saying he was “gonna kill this [expletive], don’t you know it.”
• Prosecutors said Stockley shot Smith four times quickly, then shot him “execution style” at close range to kill him.

Why was he acquitted?

• Stockley waived his right to a jury trial, and his case was decided by bench trial by Judge Timothy Wilson.
• “This court, as the trier of fact, is simply not firmly convinced of defendant’s guilt. Agonizingly, this court has pored over the evidence again and again … This court, in conscience, cannot say that the state has proven every element of murder beyond a reasonable doubt or that the defendant did not act in self-defense,” Wilson said in his decision.

(H/T St. Louis Post-Dispatch)