The long lit fuse of mistrust and injustice in St. Louis is about to set off a massive social and racial explosion



Vonderitt Myers, Jr. 

On Wednesday night (October 8) in the Shaw Neighborhood of St. Louis, 18 year old Vonderrit D. Myers Jr. – a black male – was shot and killed by an off-duty officer with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.  The unidentified officer WAS in uniform at the time of the shooting.  The next day, Thursday, October 9, marked the second month to the day that Mike Brown, ANOTHER 18 year old black male, was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, an officer with the Ferguson Police Department.  There obviously are some striking similarities in these two case.  Both shooting victims were 18 year old black males and both were shot to death by law enforcement officers in uniform.  In both cases, witnesses have given different accounts of the shootings compared to the accounts given by the law enforcement agencies involved.  Both of their unfortunate deaths set off civil unrest in the respective areas they were killed in.  Both killings have put St. Louis in the national spot light and has attracted national media attention.  Both killings have once again ignited the racial divide in the St. Louis Metropolitan area and in particular, the estrangement between the African-American community and law enforcement in the Metro area.  The distrust that exists between the African-American community and law enforcement is as wide as the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  Not exactly a startling revelation, but the chasm has never been this high octane in my lifetime.  It is a weapon of mass destruction – a bomb with a long fuse that was ignited a long time ago.  The long lit fuse of injustice in St. Louis is about to set off a massive social and racial explosion. 

As much as these two cases have in common on the surface, there are some stark contrasts as well.  Some VERY stark contrasts.  Mike Brown was UNARMED when Darren Wilson shot and killed him in broad daylight in the Canfield Green apartment complex.  If you believe the accounts of all the witnesses who have gone public and if you believe the autopsy reports are credible, then it won’t be difficult for you to believe that Mike Brown was shot with his hands up while posing no imminent threat to Darren Wilson.  In other words, Darren Wilson EXECUTED Mike Brown.  Mike Brown had no prior contact with law enforcement and had no pending cases in any courts in the area – criminal or otherwise.  Mike Brown had graduated from Normandy High School (my alma mater) and was scheduled to start attending college just two days after he was shot and killed. 

Conversely, and according to SLMPD, Vonderitt D. Myers, Jr. WAS armed when he was shot and killed by the unnamed and in uniform off duty officer with SLMPD.  The official police report released says that Myers was not only armed, but that he shot three rounds at the unnamed officer and attempted to fire additional rounds at the officer but was unable to because the weapon he had on him jammed.  The officer, fearing for his life, returned fire by shooting 17 rounds from his service weapon and struck Myers 7 times.  Myers, like Mike Brown, was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting.  A weapon was recovered that Vonderitt Myers allegedly used to shoot at the unnamed officer.  St. Louis police have also recovered spent ammunition from the gun Myers allegedly used and other forensic evidence.  Myers was awaiting trial after being charged with unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest in June 2014.  Unlike Mike Brown, Myers had not graduated from high school.  As an objective, uninterested party and considering the pending trial that Myers faced, one could reasonably accept the police department’s account of the events that led to the shooting death of Vonderitt Myers, Jr. on Wednesday night.  However, his family and supporters offer up a different account of the events of Wednesday night and paint a far less menacing personal profile of Vonderitt Myers, Jr.  According to his family, Myers was armed with a turkey sandwich he purchased from a deli just 10 minutes before he was shot and killed.  In an interview on NBC Nightly News, his parents point to video footage from the deli he purchased the sandwich as a way of proving their son was unarmed. 
(Protests turn violent in St. Louis after fatal shooting) 

The African-American community in St. Louis once again took their grievances to the streets. 

 

In their eyes, another black teenager was shot and killed by a law enforcement officer who chose to use unjustifiable deadly force.  Whether the evidence gathered supports that belief or not, that is their belief and their position.  A significant number of people in the African-American community in St. Louis simply does NOT trust the police.  Since Mike Brown was shot and killed in Ferguson, there have been TWO African-American males shot and killed in the city of St. Louis by law enforcement officers.  On August 19, Kajieme Powell was shot and killed by SLMPD officers. 





 

The officers justified deadly force alleging Kajieme Powell rushed toward them while he was holding a knife.  I have lost count of the number of times I've watched this video and I still haven't seen where he charges the officers.  What do YOU see?  To the credit of Sam Dotson, Chief of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, who personally went to the scene of the shooting immediately, the department gave the officer's account of the incident and promised full transparency. 

 

 

 

So far, that promise has been a hollow ring.  There really has been no progress report on the investigation in the Kajieme Powell shooting.  The officers involved in the shooting still have not been identified and as far as the public knows, both are still on administrative leave.  In this case, the public actually has MORE information in the Mike Brown case; which isn’t saying much.  SLMPD has created the appearance of being transparent but there has been no developments of substance.  The city of St. Louis, in making every effort to avoid the mistakes of Ferguson, has attempted to be proactive in an outreach effort to the African-American community. To this point the city has failed MISERABLY.  

Apparently the outreach memo didn’t reach the officers of SLMPD by the time they confronted protesters in the Vonderitt Myers, Jr. case.  SLMPD officers showed up in riot gear and armored vehicles - basically mirroring what was on display in Ferguson.  SLMPD added its own splash of controversy to boot.  SLMPD officers were seen pounding nightsticks on the ground while approaching a crowd of peaceful demonstrators. They also shot protesters with pepper spray and arrested 17 people.  So much for good will and holiday cheer. 

 

 

 

If this is the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's example of community outreach, I sure would hate to see what action they would take if they had no intention of reaching out to the community.  Initial reports were SLMPD reacted to rocks being throw at officers.  Those reports were amended by saying a SINGLE rock was thrown from the crowd AFTER the crowd was shot with pepper spray. 

 

The promise of full transparency in the Myers case has been kept, although it has come in delayed action.  The day after the shooting, results from the autopsy performed on Vonderitt Myers, Jr. were released and it was disclosed the fatal shot was a shot to the cheek (Teen in Shaw shooting died from gunshotto the right cheek, medical examiner says).  On Tuesday (October 14) SLMPD released the forensics report that proves that Vonderitt Myers, Jr. did indeed fire a weapon at the unnamed officer.  Police also released a picture of Myers that was allegedly posted on social media that shows Myers holding a gun that resembles the gun recovered from the scene that Myers allegedly used in the incident (Forensic evidence shows teen shot at St. Louis officer, police say).   At this point, the shooting appears to be justified. 

 

The African-American community will not easily accept these findings.  The true grievance the African-American community has is larger than the unfortunate death of 18 year old Vonderitt Myers, Jr.  Since the unnamed officer was not on duty and working as a security officer for a private firm, the question many have is why did the officer focus attention on Myers and his friends at all.  There were four of them and when they saw the cop, they allegedly took off running.  If they had not committed a crime while the off duty cop was watching and they took off running, WHAT was the crime they committed?  The answer to that question is the real crux of the matter.  These young black men who had committed no crime up to that point were targeted and deemed suspicious WHY?  Vonderitt Myers, Jr.’s family and the public at large need an answer to that question.  Again, SLMPD should get credit for at least TRYING to do the right thing, which is more than can be said about Ferguson. 

Ferguson was a DISASTER on many fronts. There was looting; there was the police showing up in armored plated vehicles and riot gear; there was tear gas; there were members of the media arrested for nothing more than doing their jobs; there were shots fired; there were arrests; there was a cop aiming an assault rifle at a crowd of peaceful demonstrators and threatening to kill them; there were notable black leaders; there was the Attorney General of the United States; there were FBI agents; there was a controversial Prosecuting Attorney; there was a governor who didn’t bother to visit Ground Zero of the unrest in Ferguson; there was no effort to be transparent

by the Ferguson Police Department; there was an incompetent police chief; there was a CLUELESS mayor of Ferguson who said there was no race problem in Ferguson;   there was Mike Brown’s funeral; there was utter CHAOS.  There was ONE shining light and a much needed and effective calming force that emanated from the utter chaos in Ferguson: Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ronald Johnson. 

As calming a force that Captain Johnson proved to be, even he couldn’t eradicate the core issue at hand in Ferguson and now St. Louis: TRUST or lack thereof the African-American community in the St. Louis Metro has for law enforcement.  If you go to traffic court in just about any municipality in St. Louis County, you would leave there thinking that African-Americans are the WORSE drivers in town.  On any given day, the defendants in those courts are 85% black, minimum.  If defendants can’t pay, warrants for their arrest are issued and thus a vicious cycle commences.  It is the modern day equivalent of a debtor’s court.  

To continue to disenfranchise, marginalize, neglect, disrespect and, in some cases, dehumanize a significant demographic and have an expectation the demographic well indefinitely accept such treatment is ludicrous.  As we full well see, that treatment has run its course.  This has been going on for so long that a lot of people seamlessly integrated it into their lives or have buried their heads in the sand or in the lower extremity of the human anatomy.  This Molotov cocktail was crafted generations ago and the only Bomb Squad that can defuse it is CHANGE.  In St. Louis, change is about as welcomed as Ebola.  Something HAS to change.  Things MUST change.  If not, the combustible residue will ignite. 

The long lit fuse of mistrust and injustice in St. Louis is about to set off a massive social and racial explosion. 

Peace, peace.

Craig Riggins

Email: therigginsreport517@gmail.com
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