On fairly regular basis cops shoot black guys. Most of the time it is justified. Sometimes not, but hardly anyone bothers to notice. In big election years, however, the rulers take note as it is is a good way to gin up the black vote. Ferguson was a good example of one such shooting wrapped in a campaign commercial. Now, just in time for the election, we have another and right next door in St. Louis!
The fatal shooting of an 18-year-old black man in south St. Louis by an off-duty police officer sparked a night of unrest in a city still reeling from the August slaying of an unarmed man in nearby Ferguson.
Wednesday’s shooting happened at about 7:30 p.m. in the city’s Shaw Neighborhood, and involved an officer working a department-approved secondary job for a private security company, Police Chief Sam Dotson said at an early-morning news conference.
The officer approached a group of men. One of the men took off running, Dotson said, so the officer pursued. Dotson said the suspect approached the officer in an “aggressive” manner, with a physical altercation occurring. The man then turned and fired three rounds at the officer before his gun jammed, Dotson said.
The officer, who was not injured, returned fire, shooting 17 times and fatally wounding the man, Dotson said.
A gun was recovered at the scene. The officer was placed on administrative leave, as per department policy, police said.
Police have not identified the officer or the man he killed.
The incident comes nearly two months to the day after the police shooting of Michael Brown, 18, in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, located about 20 miles away. Brown’s shooting sparked weeks of protests and spawned national discourse about police use of force.
Some of the people protesting recently in Ferguson were seen in St. Louis after Wednesday’s shooting, Dotson said.
“Tensions in the region are very high,” Dotson said. “Any police officer use of force certainly will draw attention.”
St. Louis Alderman Antonio French, who documented the turmoil in Ferguson after Brown’s Aug. 9 shooting death, reflected on the region’s renewed anguish.
“At the scene of yet another young man’s death,” he wrote on Twitter. “This happens too often in our city. It’s a crisis that we should all be concerned about.”
Activists took to the streets of St. Louis overnight, marching and chanting, seeking answers.
Some police vehicles were damaged during the protests, with windows smashed, Dotson said.
People also shared their frustration on social media, with #shawshooting the most popular national trending topic on Twitter.
A couple of problems. The black victim shot at the officer. The neighborhood looks rather white. Shaw appears to be one of those areas of the city that the SWPL’s are clawing back from nature. It’s 57% white according to the census and it has a very active community association. Those are all the signs of ethnic cleansing. The SWPL’s move in and organize so they can use the levers of government to drive out the unwanted. They do that by pressuring landlord to upgrade their properties, thus having to upgrade their tenants.
But, once the SWPL-ville Times choppers in some foreign correspondents to report on the case, I’m sure they will have figured out how to incorporate this into the narrative, linking it to Ferguson. Speaking of which, that grand jury has been at it for a long time now. I would assume the Democratic National Committee put in a request to have them file a no bill in the next week or two. That way the resulting riot will coincide with the home stretch of the election.