Race, class and the protests against police violence in St. Louis, Missouri
By
Genevieve Leigh
3 October 2017
The protests that erupted in St. Louis over the past two weeks, following the acquittal of police officer Jason Stockley for the killing of 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith in 2011, raise basic political issues.
The ruling class responded to the demonstrations, which drew as many as 1,000 people, with a ruthless and violent police crackdown, giving officers full reign to terrorize and intimidate the crowds. One chilling video circulating on social media shows groups of officers beating an unarmed protester with their batons before dragging his limp body out of sight. In another, a long line of riot police trample a 65-year-old woman who the police later claimed, “did not disperse quickly enough.”
The peaceful crowds were attacked with pepper spray and tear gas on multiple occasions. Well over 120 people were arrested, with many media reporters and bystanders caught up in the dragnet. So unrestrained was the level of police force that, at one point, they beat and bloodied one of their own officers who was undercover in the crowd.
Given the significance of the exoneration—despite overwhelming evidence of premeditated police murder—and the massive scale of the police riot, it is striking how little attention it has received from the publications of the “left” in the United States, which orbit around the Democratic Party. No articles can be found on either the website of Socialist Alternative or on Jacobin, which is associated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The fact that the mayor overseeing the violent crackdown, Lyda Krewson, is a Democrat is no doubt a factor.
What has been written from these quarters predictably presents the issue…