FBI, Justice Department to investigate St. Louis-area police
ST. LOUIS — A federal investigation will look into possible civil rights violations by police in the St. Louis area in the two months since protests broke out after a white former police officer was acquitted in the shooting death of a black suspect.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced the investigation in a statement Monday. The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office in St. Louis also will help with the investigation. The statement did not specify which police agencies beyond St. Louis city will be examined and Justice Department spokesman Devin O’Malley declined comment. St. Louis County police spokesman Shawn McGuire said his department has not been informed that it is part of the investigation.
Protest leaders, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay and others called for a federal investigation. More than 300 people have been arrested at protests since Sept. 15, when a judge ruled that Jason Stockley was not guilty of first-degree murder in the 2011 death of Anthony Lamar Smith.
Several of those arrested have alleged heavy-handed tactics and even taunting by police. Protests have occurred in multiple law-enforcement jurisdictions throughout the St. Louis region.