ST. LOUIS, MO — Fox 2 reports The Ethical Society of Police and the National Coalition of Law Enforcement Officers for Justice, Reform and Accountability have jointly released video and written statements supporting a conviction in the trial of former St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer Jason Stockley. The former officer faces murder charges in a police shooting.
Stockley’s trial ended last month, but Judge Timothy Wilson has yet to rule. Activists have threatened civil disobedience that could include shutting down highways, airports or businesses if Stockley is acquitted in the 2011 death of Anthony Lamar Smith.
It’s important to consider the judge’s ruling does not have to be as black-and-white as a lot of people assume. He can also find Stockley guilty of second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter if he thinks the evidence fits a lesser offense better.
The shooting of a black suspect by a white officer reignited racial tensions in a region still healing from the 2014 fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.