Rioters reportedly set a fire at the St. Louis police headquarters on Wednesday night as anti-police riots broke out across the country following the latest developments in the Breonna Taylor case.
“Locally, about 50 demonstrators gathered in Florissant. Police ordered them to clear the road, and about a half-dozen arrests were made,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. “About 100 protesters then gathered in downtown St. Louis, where they marched to City Hall and blocked Market Street and Tucker Boulevard. At about 11 p.m., a few people set fire to a chair at the entrance of St. Louis police headquarters. Officers quickly came out and put out the flame, then went back inside the building.”
WATCH:
St. Louis, Mo.: The police headquarters was set on fire by rioters. #BLM pic.twitter.com/GoiRKDlGhk
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) September 24, 2020
The riot happened after a grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky, on Wednesday declined to charge three police officers with the killing of Breonna Taylor. The grand jury did indict one of the officers on three charges of “wanton endangerment” for recklessly firing his weapon into apartments during the incident.
Local media outlets reported that activists also gathered in nearby Florissant, where police ended up making multiple arrests during the incident.
The Florissant Police Department said in a statement:
Tonight, a group of protesters showed up in front of the Florissant Police Department to protest. The group walked out onto US 67 and blocked the highway.
There were three dispersal orders given to the protesters to move from the highway.
After the third order to disperse from the highway and the protesters refusal to disperse, officers entered the roadway and made 6 arrests. While officers were making the arrest, a protester threw a large loud firework at the officers. No protesters or police officers were injured.
There were no chemical munitions or any type of distraction devises used by police during tonight’s protest.
All 6 arrested are charged with peace disturbance. One of the 6 is also charged with resisting arrest.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron held a press conference earlier in the day where he discussed the grand jury’s decision to not charge the officer’s with Taylor’s killing.
“My job as the special prosecutor in this case was to put emotions aside and investigate the facts to determine if criminal violations of state law resulted in the loss of Ms. Taylor’s life,” Cameron said. “This included examining the actions of Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Brett Hankison, and Detective Myles Cosgrove, the three officers who fired their weapons in the early morning hours of March 13th. In working with our federal partners on this case, it was determined that while we would share information to advance our respective investigations, we must also maintain some level of separation to ensure the integrity of each investigation.”
“When examining issues regarding potential civil rights violations, we determined that any such violations are better addressed through a federal-led investigation, and issues involving potential criminal acts concerning the shooting are better addressed by a state-led investigation,” Cameron continued. “With this in mind, our investigation focused on the events that took place in Ms. Taylor’s apartment on March 13th. In the months since taking this case, [our] dedicated team of prosecutors and investigators with more than 200 years of combined career experience conducted a thorough investigation to better understand the events that led to Ms. Taylor’s death. The team is here with me today.”
“I want to personally and publicly thank them for their tireless work,” Cameron continued. “These men and women are true public servants, who for months have shown up every day with a desire for one thing, and that is to seek the truth. We decided while we would examine materials gathered by LMPD’s public integrity unit, we would need to conduct our own independent investigation and start from scratch in the interest of thoroughness, fairness, and finding the truth.”