A weekend of violent protests: Breaking down the police killing of Anthony Lamar Smith in St. Louis

By Brian Seay

Protests entered a fourth day Monday in St. Louis after last week’s acquittal of a white police officer charged with first degree murder in the 2011 killing of a black suspect.
More than 120 people were arrested Sunday, according to the Associated Press. Since Friday, peaceful protests have been held during the day, but violence and vandalism have gripped the community each night, with at least 10 police officers suffering injuries as people hurled rocks and bricks at them.
On Friday, a judge announced a not guilty verdict for Jason Stockley, the 36-year-old former St. Louis police officer charged in the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith. Stockley and officer Brian Bianchi approached Smith in a parking lot during a suspected drug deal on Dec. 20, 2011. The officers pulled up behind Smith, stopping slightly behind his vehicle.
“As I exited the passenger side of the police vehicle, (police officer) Bianchi alerted me that there appeared to be a weapon,” Stockley wrote in a memo after the incident. “As I exited the vehicle I had in my possession a personal weapon, an AK-47 pistol.”
Smith immediately pulled forward, then threw the car into reverse, repeating the maneuver a couple times in order to flee

Source: Guns.com