ACLU suing St. Louis, says police action during protests was unconstitutional

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri is suing the city of St. Louis for unconstitutional conduct of police officers against people during the recent protests.

The ACLU announced the lawsuit on their site on Friday, one week after Jason Stockley was found not guilty of murder in the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith. Protests broke out in the city after the verdict and over 120 people were arrested in connection to the protests.

The lawsuit will focus on police misconduct “using chemical weapons, interfering with video of police activity and violating due process during Sunday night’s ‘kettling’ incident in downtown St. Louis,” according to ACLU’s announcement.

Police used the ‘kettling’ technique on Sunday night to round up and arrest around 100 people in response to ongoing protests in Delmar Loop.

The ACLU said police used chemical weapons against both protesters and bystanders without proper protocol and unlawfully detained people.

“While long shifts and being the subject of the protest is understandably challenging for police, that is no excuse for violating the Constitution,” Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri, said in the text.

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 12:58 PM with the headline "ACLU suing St. Louis, says police action during protests was unconstitutional."