ST. LOUIS – The ACLU of Missouri today filed a lawsuit against the city of St. Louis and St. Clair County, Ill., for police misconduct during protests following the killing of Mansur Ball-Bey by a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer in 2015.
Officers engaged in retaliation and used excessive force by deploying tear gas and pepper spray at protesters and observers long after the demonstration had dispersed.
“This lawsuit reveals a consistent pattern of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers repeatedly ignoring the First Amendment rights of the people they took an oath to protect and serve,” said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri. “Officers should never retaliate against people for nonviolently assembling or publicly grieving the loss of a member of the community.”
The incident happened on August 19, 2015, the same day St. Louis police officer Kyle Chandler killed 18-year-old Mansur Ball-Bey in St. Louis’ Fountain Park neighborhood.
Dozens had gathered near Walton and Page Avenues to mourn the loss of Mr. Ball-Bey and express disapproval that he had been shot. About 6:45 p.m., some 50 officers amassed, with riot gear and batons, and told the nonviolent crowd to disperse.
Some 30 minutes later, a police SWAT truck appeared blocks away on a residential street in the Fountain Park neighborhood. Christina Vogel and Sarah Molina – whom police knew had been at Walton and Page – were standing on the sidewalk with friends when officers launched tear gas canisters and smoke grenades directly at them.
"What we saw over the weekend – mass arrests and gassing of entire neighborhoods – didn't occur in a vacuum. Enough is enough,” said Molina, a plaintiff in the case. “We need to push back and say 'this is not okay.' We need to push back against police interference with our Constitutional rights.”
That same evening, far from any protest, Peter Groce told the police that their SWAT truck should be traveling on the street and not in Fountain Park’s grass. In retaliation, the officers in the SWAT vehicle shot pepper spray and a tear gas canister directly at him. The canister hit him in the hip.
Officers in the SWAT truck also tear gassed the entire residential block of Bayard Avenue south of Page Avenue, as well as inside Fountain Park.
“When officers squelch people’s freedom of expression, it has a chilling effect,” said Rothert. “In a democracy, people must be able to voice concerns about their government without fear of retaliation.”
Today’s lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal actions taken by the ACLU of Missouri related to officers violating the First Amendment rights of people in St. Louis.
On Sept. 22, the ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit against the city of St. Louis for unlawful and unconstitutional actions by officers against people during the first week of demonstrations following the Stockley verdict. On Thursday, the ACLU filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in that case, asking the court to make the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department enact several changes that relate to police conduct during protests.