Following the same pattern as the previous two days, Sunday's protests began as marches of hundreds of people chanting in opposition to the verdict released Friday. Heading into a third night of protests, organizers said they were frustrated that a few people who have caused trouble at night could make it harder to spread their nonviolent message. Protesters and organizers say the violence and vandalism by a few people threaten to detract from broader messages of racial equity. The recent St. Louis protests have followed a pattern borne out of months of angry and sometimes violent protests after the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson: The majority of demonstrators, though angry, are law-abiding. Stockley shot Smith after Smith led Stockley and his partner on a high-speed chase as they tried to arrest him for a suspected drug deal.

Source: Los Angeles Times September 18, 2017 06:04 UTC