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80+ Protestors Arrested at Wash U as Students Protest Ties to Boeing

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The arrests came in waves, and as students at Washington University chanted for a free Palestine, others were marched away to the beat of a protest drum in the background.
Police from multiple St. Louis-area departments — including Richmond Heights Police, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police and the Washington University Police — spent hours staring down student activists praying, eating and protesting for Palestine on Wash U’s lawn.
Nearly three hours after an initial warning to disperse, officers moved in with zip ties, dragging students to the ground and ripping apart a human chain as they arrested demonstrators.
A protest medic was picked up and slammed to the ground by multiple police officers, a woman wearing a Keffiyeh was ripped from the circle of protesters and slammed down with a hooked arm around her throat by an officer, an older man with gray hair was forced face down into the ground as officers leaned onto him and zip-tied his hands, and other protesters were picked up and carried away to waiting vans. click to enlarge ZACHARY LINHARES Police arrest a pro-Palestine protestor on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Washington University.
More than 300 Pro-Palestine protesters began a march to Washington University’s campus at 3 p.m. Saturday. Their plan was to set up an encampment upon arrival and hold the line as long as possible. By 8:50 p.m., more than 80 people had been arrested — including Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate.
In an email to students and staff, Wash U said, “It quickly became clear through the words and actions of this group that they did not have good intentions on our campus. We also felt strongly that this demonstration had the potential to get out of control and become dangerous. When the group began to set up a camp on the east end of campus in violation of university policy, we made the decision to tell everyone present that they needed to leave. Any individuals who refused to leave after being asked multiple times were arrested.”
The university said in the email that arrests were still being processed. “All will face charges of trespassing and some may also be charged with resisting arrest and assault, including for injuries to police officers. We are taking this matter very seriously. For those who are students, we also have initiated the university student conduct process.” click to enlarge ZACHARY LINHARES A protestor is arrested by police on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Washington University.
The protesters are part of a movement calling for Wash U to divest from Boeing, which they say is supporting genocide in Gaza and supplying Israel with weapons. Protests on campus have been happening for weeks. At one demonstration on April 13 three students were suspended and 12 people were issued court summons.
“Israel’s genocidal campaign has fueled the murder of over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza in the last 6 months,” Resist Wash U, one of the main organizers of the protest, said in a statement with a list of demands for the university. “The same bombs Israel is dropping on Gaza are manufactured at a Boeing facility in St. Charles, Missouri. Meanwhile, Wash U continues to cultivate its longstanding partnership with Boeing.”
Penelope T. a sophomore at Wash U who declined to give her last name, was one of the organizers for the protest. She says protesters say Wash U must meet a list of demands before the protests will stop, including divesting from Boeing and dropping the charges against other student protesters.
“It’s very clear how horrendous all that’s happening, all that Israel is committing,” she says. “The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is continuing to slaughter people.” click to enlarge ZACHARY LINHARES Demonstrators lock arms in front of a temporary encampment on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Washington University.
Shortly after protestors set up the encampment on campus, police arrived and gave an order to disperse, declaring the assembly unlawful. Activists then moved the encampment across from the Kemper Art Museum. Police gave another order to disperse and stared down protesters for hours before making their move.
In addition to the Green Party’s Stein, protesters were joined by St. Louis Aldermanic President Megan Green and Ward 7 Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier. These three walked to the police line and asked to meet with Wash U’s administration to de-escalate the situation before arrests were made. They were forced back by police and administrators refused to cross the line to speak with them.
“We are here to support the students who are standing up for our highest American values, for our democracy, for an end to this genocide which is unacceptable and a blight on this nation,” Stein told RFT. “It must be stopped, the American people want it stopped.
Stein was later arrested by police in one of the first waves. Sonnier yelled at police, begging them to stop laughing as they continued to break up the demonstration, and an officer with a megaphone threatened to arrest Green if she did not leave.
“I will leave once all my students are booked and I know where they are going so I can get them out of jail,” Green told the officer with the megaphone.
“It’s definitely time for y’all [Wash U] to pay taxes,” Sonnier added.
“I’ve been to a lot of protests over my lifetime,” Green said in a post to X (formerly Twitter) after the protest was broken up. “This was one of the most excessive uses of force I’ve ever seen. Six police departments responded to students chanting because they want the genocide in Gaza to stop and the university to divest from those supporting war.”
A common statement activists echoed during the demonstration was that “there are no more universities left in Gaza.” As university students, the protestors say they want to send a message to Wash U that supporting the ongoing attacks, and even remaining silent, is unacceptable.
“There is nothing left in Gaza. Who is going to rebuild it?” Sara Bannoura, a leader with the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, says. “We are here because the war is still happening. We are here to remind people that St. Louis stands for peace.”
Protestors intended for the encampment to stand for days, or until Wash U met their demands. There was a makeshift food tent, a medical tent and a tent for relieving yourself (complete with cat litter). Protesters instead were forced off campus just before 9 p.m.
After six or seven waves of arrests, police formed a wall and pushed members of the media and the remaining elected officials off campus and back onto the public sidewalk near Skinker.
Protestors say they plan to keep coming back.
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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.
Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.
The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.
The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.
This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.
As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.
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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.
“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”
He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”
The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”
Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”
The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.
Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”
In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.
“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”
Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”
Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.
“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.
Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)
One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.
Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.
“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”
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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.
The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.
The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.
The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.
To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/
“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”
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