Tweets to STLPD about their unwillingness to protect and serve.
On Saturday night in St. Louis, MO, a few blocks from where Vonderrit Myers, Jr. had been fatally shot Wednesday night and where protestors clashed with police on Thursday night, I had my own encounter with St. Louis’ finest. Spoiler alert: I wasn’t impressed.
As our car approached the exit to S. Grand Blvd we noticed the police presence on the overpass, you could see flashing lights, vehicles and police everywhere—missing from the scene was an evidence of protestors.
We parked and started out on foot, walking on the sidewalk of the overpass surrounded by a few dozen police in vests and helmets standing around talking to each other.
After we passed through the crowd, we began to have a conversation with another pedestrian on the sidewalk. Our group stopped to chat and soon after a woman limped by.
The woman, slightly older, had a limp, I believe, due to a physical disability. She passed and said hello in a voice that also indicated some form of disability. As she passed us, she began to walk in the street.
Then, she began flagging down cars, stepping in front of them, talking to them through the windows and wandering around in the middle of an intersection.
At this point I thought maybe one of the officers up the block should probably go check on her.
I walked back and approached the officers—speaking loudly to get their attention before approaching them because we’ve seen how well they treat protestors.
I explained the situation to a small gathering of the officers and I asked them to go check on the woman.
The officers said they would try to send a car, if one was available, to check on the woman but that they could not.
They were less than two blocks from a woman who could’ve used their help. Instead, they decided to remain on the bridge because they anticipated that protestors MAY show up.
Shortly after, the group I was with walked back towards the bridge to get to our car. This time they stopped us and said we couldn't pass, even though we'd passed that way about 10 minutes before. Instead, they made us cross the street and told us that the bridge is now closed to pedestrian traffic and that we would not be allowed to cross again.
This must be the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s version of protect and serve--ignore the woman and hassle the protestors.
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