Unmarked St Louis Police Vehicle Backs Through Crowd of Protesters

An unmarked St Louis police vehicle backed up through a crowd of protesters after an arrest on Sunday, September 17. Police officials said the move was done because of an a crowd advancing “in a threatening manner” toward the vehicle, a blue Impala.

Police said they arrested two people during a traffic stop, one for first-degree assault and a second for making a terrorist threat, and recovered three firearms. A third suspect threw rocks at an arresting officer, police said, and the third was detained in the car.

“The crowd started moving in a threatening manner towards the Impala and because of road closures, the car could not go forward,” police said. “The officer driving the blue Impala backed down the street to safety.”

Police said no injuries had been reported.

The arrests happened out of view of the protesters, who had been marching about the acquittal of former police Officer Jason Stockley in the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, a news report said. Two men were detained by police officers and pushed against a wall, before other officers said they were the wrong men, the report said.

Another protester ran back to where others had been gathered, telling the group police were taking people into custody. That’s when the crowd started moving toward the scene of the arrests, the report said.

Video released by police shows the Impala backing through the crowd as people jump out of the way to avoid being hit. Credit: St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department via Storyful