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Wash U Chancellor Condemns Pro-Palestine Protests

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In a newly released statement, Washington University’s chancellor calls Saturday “a dark sad day.” And he isn’t referring to the dozens of arrests of community members and students.

A total of 100 people were arrested on campus Saturday, including 23 Wash U students and at least four employees, according to Chancellor Andrew Martin. He says three police officers were injured during the arrests.

“A large group of individuals came to campus intending to disrupt, do harm and interfere with educational activities and campus life,” Martin writes. “When the group began to set up an encampment, which is in clear violation of our explicitly stated policies, we asked them to leave, multiple times. They did not leave voluntarily so we made the decision to peaceably remove them. Unfortunately they physically resisted.”

What followed included a presidential candidate being hit in the face by a bicycle, an elderly man being thrown face first into the ground and protesters being dragged away by their legs and flipped to their backs. The extent of the physical resistance RFT observed from the scene was protesters linking arms in a human chain and chanting. 

“Everyone arrested is facing criminal charges for trespassing and, for some, potentially resisting arrest and assault,” Martin writes. “For those who are students, we also have initiated the university student conduct process. We are taking what happened very seriously.”

The St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office has said they have not issued criminal charges against anyone involved in the protests. “Such charges may have been filed in a municipal court, or maybe this claim is predictive that charges will be filed, but no such charges have been filed in the 21st Circuit as of now,” a spokesman said this morning.

Penelope T., a student with Resist Wash U who organized the demonstration, says that every student who was arrested was also suspended and banned from campus.

“This means they needed to pack up their dorms and leave by 8 p.m. last night (Sunday),” she says. “This is a substantial number of students and for those living on campus means losing housing, access to food, medical and mental healthcare.”

Martin claims protestors behaved “aggressively.” He writes, “What happened yesterday was not a peaceful protest by our students. This was something else. …Some of the protesters were behaving aggressively, swinging flagpoles and sticks. Some were attempting to break into locked buildings or to deface property. There were chants that many in our community find threatening and antisemitic. When the group initially set up in front of Olin Library, our police dispatch received numerous calls from students who were inside the library, terrified that they were in harm’s way. When the group moved to Tisch Park, they began to set up another encampment and took to social media to invite others to join them. They refused to take down their tents as instructed multiple times by police. None of this is acceptable.” click to enlarge ZACHARY LINHARES A police officer zip ties a protestor on the campus of Washington University on Saturday, April 27.

The Anti Defamation League, a non-profit dedicated to tracking antisemitism, has condemned protestors’ use of the term “Intifada,” which could be heard in chants at Wash U on Saturday. The term refers to two periods of uprising of the Palestinian people on the West Bank aimed at ending Israel’s occupation, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, which the ADL says included violence towards Jews in Israel.

“At Wash U, we fully support free expression,” Martin writes. “We encourage our students to use their voices to speak up about issues they’re passionate about. Our campus is a place for our community to advocate and debate, but to be clear, our expectation is that members of our community can protest and express their strongly held views with signs, chants, and speeches, so long as they don’t resort to actions that cause harm.”

Ward 7 Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier and Aldermanic President Megan Green were at the demonstration and attempted to de-escalate before arrests were made. 

“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.”

Green posted a photo to X showing a document she says that arrested faculty members were being made to sign. The document acknowledges that the arrestee has been banned from campus and will be arrested if they return.

Martin says in his statement that the university will not permit “outside interests” to establish encampments to promote “any political or social agenda.”

“We’ve all watched as protests have spiraled out of control on other campuses across the country in recent months. We are not letting this happen here,” Martin writes.

Protestors promise to keep coming back until their demands are met, which include divesting from genocide and cutting ties with Boeing, an academic boycott/ending relationships with Israeli educational institutions, ending policing/dropping the charges against protesters, stop buying land and start making payments in lieu of taxes to the City of St. Louis and University City, and condemning the attacks on Palestine.

“To those who plan to continue to come to campus with the intention of disrupting our education and research mission and violating our policies, please know we will respond proportionately each and every time,” Martin says. “You will not do this here.”

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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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