Finger on the trigger it’s lucky no one was shot.

Some context for those outside of Saint Louis
Portland Place is a gated community street that
Is on the last neighborhood before the “delmar divide” all of the houses inside the neighborhood are 5mil - 25 mil. The delmar divide is an old segregation line that divided the black part of Saint Louis from the white; for over 100 years this neighborhood has stood there. When you drive up Kingshighway you go from seeing these million dollar mansions to boarded up houses and buildings falling apart within 500 feet of each other, it’s problematic to say the least. Over the weekend the mayor of St Louis Lyda Krewson not pictured below decided to read the names and addresses of protestors and defund the police organizers in a live press release( she later took it down) but not before the rally to have her resign formed. Yesterday hundreds marched into her gated community (the community police stood aside) (side note he is a great guy I spent many days as a teen in the neighborhood at a good friends grandmothers house just 5 houses down from this one). As the protestors made their way to the mayors house peacefully these two came out with a hand gun and an AR 15. The look in her eyes speaks volumes. They need to be held accountable. Brandishing a weapon with intent (as clearly displayed in this photo is a criminal offense when you are not in direct danger.

On 6/28/20 Mark & Patricia McCloskey, of McCloskey Law Center, pointed an AR and a handgun at nonviolent protestors who were passing through. Both Mark & Patricia are lawyers, and Patricia sits on the Missouri Bar Association Ethical Review Panel and is a part of the Board of Election Commissioners as a St. Louis City Committeewoman. Please share and contact the numbers and emails below.

Board of Election Commissioners
Phone: (314) 622-4336

Missouri Bar Association
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (573) 635-4128
Alan D. Pratzel, Chief Disciplinary Counsel
Phone: (573) 635-7400

https://www.change.org/p/missouri-governor-have-the-mccloskeys-disbarred-for-aggravated-assault-with-a-deadly-weapon

Protester accidentally shoots himself in foot outside of Florissant Police Department, police say

A protester accidentally shot themselves while demonstrating in front of the Florissant Police Department Tuesday night, according to police.

https://www.kmov.com/protester-accidentally-shoots-self-in-foot-outside-florissant-police-station/video_6104d84d-78ba-5d91-bb84-bebd7ba2340c.html

From the Facebook page of The Florissant Police Department regarding the other 2 officers who were in the vehicle driven by Officer Smith which ran down a suspect.

Officers cleared of any wrong doing

In regards to the two officers that were passengers in the police vehicle driven by former officer Smith at the time this incident occurred. After an independent investigation by the St. Louis County Police Department, St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as well as an internal investigation by the Florissant Police Department, it has been determined that these two officers were cleared of any wrong doing and they will not face any criminal charges or disciplinary actions. They will return to work immediately.

Since the police department was made aware of the video capturing the incident on June 6th, Officer Smith was terminated June 10th and the other two officers in the vehicle were immediately placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation and per department policy.

In the incident on June 2nd it is clearly shown in the video that both officers who were passengers in the police vehicle exited and ran in opposite directions of former officer Smith’s actions.

The Florissant Police Department has been very open and transparent since the video was seen. We immediately turned over all of the information to independent investigators as it became available so that this incident can be investigated fair and impartially.

Moving forward, we want to assure the residents of Florissant and communities all around the country that we have heard and listened to your concerns for justice in this case.

The Florissant Police Department will continue to be engaged in the community and will continue to provide the highest standards of Police services that our great community has come to expect.

The Florissant Police Department is an internationally accredited law enforcement agency that is committed to the residents of this community.

This was a question that came up as I listened to a podcast of the Thomas Jefferson Hour yesterday and thought it was an interesting one to pose.

My choice would be Harry Truman, but I can certainly think others would do a good job as well.

Protesters angry at police use of force returned to Florissant on Sunday to again call for change and insist that they will not rest until police officers who harm people are held accountable.

Dozens of people gathered along Lindbergh Boulevard to decry police brutality in front of the Florissant Police Department, where some again attempted to repaint “Black Lives Matter” after their earlier work had twice been painted over with blue paint by people who support police.

After protesters chalked the lines for the words, a police officer ordered them off the street. When they tried to paint the letters police in riot gear pushed the crowd back and then arrested two people, who onlookers said were not among the painters. Police also confiscated paint and brushes, returned later to order protesters to leave and arrested two others.

Protesters said police continue to use tough tactics to break up peaceful demonstrations. They were particularly unhappy that police stopped the painting and that it wasn't clear who officers took into custody.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/third-day-demonstrations-florissant-protesters-vow-keep-coming-back

A now-fired Florissant police officer has been charged with first-degree assault after officials said he drove his unmarked police vehicle into a man earlier this month.

St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar also charged former officer Joshua Smith with assault in the fourth degree and armed criminal action. Lohmar took over the case after the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office cited a conflict of interest.

“This is a case where we have had these situations before where a police officer was not involved but where someone used a vehicle as a weapon,” Lohmar said Wednesday. “In those circumstances we’ve always charged it with assault first degree and armed criminal action.”

A doorbell video of the June 2 incident shared by Real STL News days later showed Smith hitting the victim with his car. A second video shared this week showed the vehicle with its headlights on directly striking the victim, whom officials have not identified. The video shows Smith getting out of his car and kicking the man.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/fired-florissant-police-officer-charged-first-degree-assault

A now-fired Florissant police officer has been charged with first-degree assault after officials said he drove his unmarked police vehicle into a man earlier this month.

St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar also charged former officer Joshua Smith with assault in the fourth degree and armed criminal action. Lohmar took over the case after the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office cited a conflict of interest.

“This is a case where we have had these situations before where a police officer was not involved but where someone used a vehicle as a weapon,” Lohmar said Wednesday. “In those circumstances we’ve always charged it with assault first degree and armed criminal action.”

A doorbell video of the June 2 incident shared by Real STL News days later showed Smith hitting the victim with his car. A second video shared this week showed the vehicle with its headlights on directly striking the victim, whom officials have not identified. The video shows Smith getting out of his car and kicking the man.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/fired-florissant-police-officer-charged-first-degree-assault

WASHINGTON, Mo. — The president of the Urban League in St. Louis is denouncing the racist cartoon that was published in Washington, Missouri’s The Missourian newspaper Wednesday.

“That cartoon was racist and inappropriate. Something we don’t need publicly or privately in our society,” said Michael McMillan, president of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

McMillan said he was disgusted when he saw the cartoon, and that it made him angry.

“When you look at where we are as a nation right now, that cartoon is the exact example of what not to do,” he added.

https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/newspaper-racist-cartoon-missourian-reaction/63-cea6a97c-363b-4105-89d3-c603305a9e0a

The co-owners – Susan Miller Warden and Jeanne Miller Wood and their father who is publisher made an apology and resigned on Wednesday.

FLORISSANT, Mo. (KMOV.com) – Florissant Police Chief Timothy Fagan on Wednesday announced the termination of an officer involved in a now-viral violent arrest that was caught on camera.

Detective Joshua Smith's firing comes more than a week after doorbell video showed the officer in an unmarked police vehicle strike an unarmed man and then taking him to the ground.

The incident took place on Tuesday, June 2, but Fagan said he found out about it days later, on Saturday. Fagan said three men were chased because the car they were in matched the description of a vehicle wanted for a shots fired call coming out of Ferguson.

The man hit by the patrol car suffered an ankle injury and was arrested by Florissant Police Department and is facing charges of resisting arrest

https://www.kmov.com/news/florissant-officer-fired-after-video-shows-him-hitting-unarmed-man-with-vehicle/article_afb0cfb6-ab54-11ea-95aa-1b5fc1d234f6.html

FLORISSANT, Mo. (KMOV.com) – Florissant Police Chief Timothy Fagan on Wednesday announced the termination of an officer involved in a now-viral violent arrest that was caught on camera.

Detective Joshua Smith's firing comes more than a week after doorbell video showed the officer in an unmarked police vehicle strike an unarmed man and then taking him to the ground.

The incident took place on Tuesday, June 2, but Fagan said he found out about it days later, on Saturday. Fagan said three men were chased because the car they were in matched the description of a vehicle wanted for a shots fired call coming out of Ferguson.

The man hit by the patrol car suffered an ankle injury and was arrested by Florissant Police Department and is facing charges of resisting arrest

https://www.kmov.com/news/florissant-officer-fired-after-video-shows-him-hitting-unarmed-man-with-vehicle/article_afb0cfb6-ab54-11ea-95aa-1b5fc1d234f6.html