Protesters call for the firing of police officer who hit unarmed man with patrol car
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Florissant, MO (KMOV) — Protesters gathered around the Florissant Police Department Sunday night demanding a detective be fired after video appeared to show he hit a man with his car earlier in the week in an attempted arrest.
People all around St. Louis have been protesting for a week calling for racial justice in policing and protesting police brutality after the death of George Floyd. But a new frustration hit St. Louisans over the weekend after a video surfaced showing a Florissant police officer drive his unmarked patrol car into a man running away from him.
The incident happened Tuesday night but the Florissant police chief only saw the video and learned about the incident on Saturday. The detective driving the SUV was suspended and two other officers were placed on leave.
Around 100 people took to the streets of Florissant Sunday night demanding justice and transparency.
“I was furious. I was outraged because I’m already tired as a black man,” Bishop Derrick Robinson said. “That detective, what he did, was intolerable in our community and we’re calling for him to be fired, not just suspended and we want the chief of Florissant to respond to us and to fire him. We’re not gonna pay for him to be on leave. Enough said. We’re tired.”
The Ethical Society of Police also said the officer needs to be fired and charged with assault, saying in a tweet “He struck a man with a car then kicked him. There’s no need to delay charges.”
Members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition have also called for the immediate firing of the officer.
“We don’t want another Minneapolis here in St. Louis, so we are calling on the Florissant PD, St. Louis County PD, and the St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney (who are currently investigating this case) to act quickly and decisively, “ Reverend Darryl Gray said in a statement. He is the political advisor for the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition.
Police said the officer was attempting to arrest the man because his car matched the description of a car wanted for a call of shots fired at the Ferguson Police Department. The man wasn’t the man wanted and had no weapon on him. He suffered an ankle injury.
“The fact that this incident happened on Tuesday, June 2nd, and that the Florissant police chief didn’t know about it until the following Saturday, is problematic by itself. Why wasn’t this reported to him immediately? It speaks to the lack of police transparency and accountability that is being protested against throughout our country “ Gray added.
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