Journalist sues St. Louis and 11 officers

Journalist Michael Faulk is suing city of St. Louis and 11 officers that had "arrested and pepper-sprayed him while covering a protest against police violence" back in September of last year. The journalist was one of over 100 people arrested that night for protesting against the not guilty verdict given for SLMPD Jason Stockley for killing Anthony Smith back in 2011. He said SLMPD use a tactic called "kettling" to surround protestors on all sides. Faulk's attorney said SLMPD began "to indiscriminately deploy pepper spray on the submissive crowd. The noxious spray wafted over the group, causing choking and coughing. Mr. Faulk felt the pepper spray land on his back and neck, causing immediate and acute stinging pain. [An officer] placed his boot onto Mr. Faulk’s head and used his weight to press Mr. Faulk’s head into the asphalt of the street. Despite cries of pain from Mr. Faulk, the officer continued to press Mr. Faulk’s head against the ground." I thought this article was interesting because Faulk was covering a protest over police violence and in turn he got assaulted himself.

[1 image, 1 link, 2 quotes, 182 words]