Starvin Larry

Scores of protesters at the helm of the ongoing nationwide movement against police violence stormed the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Wednesday, aiming to “evict” officers they accused of “perpetrating police brutality on our citizenry.”

Five of the roughly 25 demonstrators who linked arms in the lobby of the police department were arrested in the headquarters, the St. Louis Police Department told Al Jazeera. Police pepper-sprayed and forced other protesters off the premises.

The detainees — four women and one man — were charged with “trespassing and peace disturbance,” said Leah K. Freeman, the department’s spokeswoman.  The man was charged with “assault 3rd [degree] for assaulting a City Marshall inside the lobby of police headquarters.”

Among the protesters was a white couple who pretended to open an account at the St. Louis Police Credit Union, located inside the building. The arrested included a white college student, a young Mexican-American man, one black woman and a Palestinian-American mother in her 50s. Organizers said the detained activists — like the rest of the demonstrators who stormed police headquarters — were peaceful and did not conduct themselves differently from their fellow activists.

“We got a lot of people in there because we didn’t look like what they think protesters look like,” said Elizabeth Vega, 48, one of the organizers, explaining that the police were likely expecting more black demonstrators. Originally from Mexico, Vega has lived in the St. Louis area for 14 years.

Protesters who were driven outside erected a makeshift “barricade” at the headquarters’ main entrance, organizers said. By mid-afternoon, that barrier separated a small line of police from the demonstrators, whose ranks swelled to 75 from the original 25. Another 18,  including 12 females and 6 males, “were arrested for impeding the flow of traffic” outside the station, Freeman said. One was charged with “interfering with an officer” after allegedly hurling a projectile at the police.”

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/12/31/st-louis-police.html