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Missouri GOP Senate hopeful Mark McCloskey

Republicans Encouraged Racist Assault On St. Louis Health Official

Reprinted with permission from American Independent

St. Louis County Health Director Faisal Khan wrote an op-ed Wednesday laying out the physical threats and racist slurs he was subjected to by a crowd of Donald Trump supporters enraged over new mask guidance in the county amid a surging outbreak of COVID-19.

Khan wrote for the Riverfront Times, in which he said Trump supporters at a Tuesday night meeting on the new mask rules mocked his accent, physically assaulted him, and hurled racist and vulgar insults such as "fat brown cunt" and "brown bastard."

And Khan accused Missouri GOP Senate hopeful Mark McCloskey — infamous for waving a gun at Black Lives Matter protesters in the summer of 2020 — of encouraging that behavior from the crowd.

Khan said he had never in his life "been subjected to the racist, xenophobic, and threatening behavior that greeted me in the County Council meeting," adding that McCloskey and GOP St. Louis City Councilman Tim Fitch encouraged the behavior.

"My time before the Council began with a dog-whistle question from Councilman Tim Fitch, who said he wanted to emphasize for the assembled crowd that I was not from this country," Khan wrote.

He later added, "I later saw that around the time that Mr. Fitch asked his question, his friend Mark McCloskey — who was seated right behind me and situated near Mr. Fitch's position on the dais — posted on social media that mask mandates are 'un-American.'"

"One cannot help but see the connection between the efforts of Mr. McCloskey and Mr. Fitch to stoke xenophobia against me," Khan wrote.

McCloskey is one of a number of GOP candidates running for Senate in Missouri to replace retiring Republican Sen. Roy Blunt.

Along with his wife, he shot to the public's attention after a photo was circulated in 2020 that showed him and his wife waving guns at BLM demonstrators in his upscale St. Louis gated community. McCloskey has since pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault for his actions.

As Republicans like McCloskey rage against new public health guidelines, Missouri is currently having one of the worst COVID outbreaks in the country.

Hospitalizations and deaths are surging in the state thanks to poor vaccination rates. Just 41% of the state is fully vaccinated, one of the worst vaccination rates in the country.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

St. Louis Couple Who Threatened Protesters Must Surrender Guns

St. Louis Couple Who Threatened Protesters Must Surrender Guns

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

The infamous St. Louis couple that made headlines last summer after brandishing guns at Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters must now surrender their guns. Needless to say, they are not pleased with the order.

According to KMOV, Mark and Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to a number of charges in connection with their altercation with protesters. Patricia McCloskey entered a guilty plea for misdemeanor harassment and was fined a total of $2,000. Mark McCloskey entered a guilty plea for a misdemeanor fourth-degree assault charge. The two also had to agree to surrender the weapons used during their exchange with protesters.

But despite the guilty pleas and their agreement to turn over their weapons, Mark McCloskey has made it clear that he does not regret his actions. From the steps of the courthouse in St. Louis, Mo., he said, "I'd do it again," later adding, "Any time the mob approaches me, I'll do what I can to put them in imminent threat of physical injury because that's what kept them from destroying my house and my family."

As reports began circulating about their case again, McCloskey also took to Twitter with his reaction. "A year ago, the mob came to my door to attack my family— I backed them down," he tweeted. "The mob came for me, the media attacked me & prosecutors tried to punish me for defending my family They dropped all charges, except for a claim I instilled 'imminent fear' in the mob I'd do it again."

Special prosecutor Richard Callahan also weighed in and admitted that he believes the couple's consequences are reasonable.

"But I think that their conduct was a little unreasonable in the end," Callahan said. "I don't think people should view this case as some type of betrayal or assault on the Second Amendment. We still have the Second Amendment rights. It's just that the Second Amendment does not permit unreasonable conduct."

St. Louis Region Is On Edge In Wake Of Another Fatal Police Shooting

St. Louis Region Is On Edge In Wake Of Another Fatal Police Shooting

by St. Louis Post-Dispatch (TNS)

BERKELEY, Mo. — The region watched nervously Wednesday after another fatal shooting of a black man at the hands of a white police officer in a St. Louis County suburb prompted protests, at times violent, heading into a holiday.

Reaction from police and political leaders was markedly different in the first few hours after a Berkeley police officer shot and killed Antonio Martin, 18, Tuesday night, compared with the initial aftermath of the Michael Brown shooting that unfolded just months and miles apart from the scene.

Employees at the Mobil on the Run gas station and convenience store in the 6800 block of North Hanley Road called 911 late Tuesday to report two men had shoplifted from the store. A Berkeley police officer arrived about 11:15 p.m. and spotted two men who matched the suspects’ descriptions.

By 7 a.m. Wednesday, police released surveillance footage showing the men approaching the police cruiser as soon as it pulls onto the lot. Martin can be seen walking away from the officer several times after the officer gets out of his car to talk to the men. Martin then turns toward the officer and appears to be pointing a gun at him. The officer fires and stumbles to the ground as he tries to back away.

Protesters began arriving at the scene shortly after the shooting; they included ministers and others who have been active in the protests related to the Brown shooting in Ferguson. Many stayed overnight. At one point, police believe the crowd swelled to about 300, but it dwindled to about a dozen by about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.

A memorial formed through the day Wednesday at the gas station. Crowds began to gather again after 6 p.m. and had grown to about 100 by 8 p.m. Some marched to nearby Interstate 170 and shut sections of it down. Several police officers were also at the scene.

Four people were arrested early Wednesday morning for assaulting officers. A Florissant officer went to the emergency room with a leg injury he suffered as he tried to get away from one of two explosives used at the gas station. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar called the explosives disturbing because of the proximity to gas tanks. A third explosive at a QuikTrip near the Mobil station started a small fire, he said.

Protesters also threw bricks at officers, injuring one in the face, Belmar said.

He said several police cars were damaged, and some protesters brought bags of rocks to the scene.

Belmar said the early hostile reaction hindered the investigation, much as it had delayed the removal of Brown’s body in August.

Police used partitions to conceal Martin’s body from the crowd. It was removed from the scene about 1:40 a.m., or about two hours after the shooting. Brown’s body remained in the street for four hours.

The Rev. Starsky Wilson, who was interviewed at the scene, characterized the protest in Berkeley as nonviolent.

He is one of the co-chairmen of the Ferguson Commission set up by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to look into the social and economic issues at play in north St. Louis County.

“Black. Young person shot by a police officer,” Wilson said, describing it as a familiar narrative. “When you see police escalate, you see violence.”

Nixon’s statement about the Berkeley shooting supported police: “The events in Berkeley are a reminder that law enforcement officers have a difficult, and often dangerous, job in protecting themselves and law-abiding citizens.”

The statement was in contrast to Nixon’s initial remarks after the Ferguson shooting in which he pledged to seek justice for Brown’s family — a comment that offended police officials.

Belmar praised Berkeley Police Chief Frank McCall for helping to calm the protests, using pepper spray but no tear gas. He said police had learned a lot from Ferguson, and noted that one of the first things McCall said to his commanders was, “Hey, let’s let this emotion vent. Let this happen.”

Belmar’s department also changed tactics from its initial response to media inquiries about the Ferguson shooting, releasing information more quickly and answering reporters’ questions in a news conference Wednesday.

County police released additional surveillance footage Wednesday afternoon along with pictures of the handgun that officers found at the scene. The 9 mm gun, which police believe Martin used, had five rounds in the magazine and one round in the chamber.

Belmar said the gun’s serial number had been filed off.

Belmar also said in the news conference that Martin had been arrested multiple times, on suspicion of committing offenses including assaults, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.

“We really do need to get to the point where we can at least wait for certain facts to materialize before we jump to conclusions, before we make attributions, before we become cynical,” he added.

Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins also hosted a news conference, taking time to differentiate the Martin shooting from others.

He said the city would conduct its own complete investigation, separate from the St. Louis County police investigation.

City, police officials and the officer’s attorney declined to name the officer involved in Tuesday’s shooting, other than to say he is 34. His attorney, Brian Millikan, said his client was a four-year veteran of the Berkeley police department and had served in Country Club Hills. He said he would oppose releasing his client’s name.

“It doesn’t do anything but subject him to threats and puts him and his family in harm,” Millikan said.

Millikan said his client recounted the details of the encounter to him several hours after the shooting.

He said one man spoke with the officer on the parking lot, while Martin kept wandering away despite the officer’s commands to stay near him, Millikan said.

Belmar said the officer, who had a flashlight in his left hand, was near his driver’s side door and Martin was near the headlights on the passenger side.

“The other guy was doing the talking, and as the cop starts talking, the suspect starts walking away again,” Millikan said. “At that point, the cop says, ‘Hey, come back here,’ and he turns around, pulls a gun from his left pant pocket.

“The cop pulls his weapon and starts backpedaling and fired three or four shots. It happened that quickly.”

Police still were seeking the man who was with Martin at the time of the shooting.

Belmar said he had talked to a number of young people at the scene, some of whom asked why the officer hadn’t used a Taser or pepper spray.

“Frankly that’s unreasonable,” Belmar said. “We had somebody who was pointing a gun at a police officer. With not a lot of time, I would imagine that most of us would feel like we were in imminent danger of losing our lives at that point.”

State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-University City) agreed. She has been critical of police after the Ferguson shooting.

“I will always think what Darren Wilson did to Michael Brown was evil, but this is not Michael Brown, this is not Ferguson.” said Chappelle-Nadal, whose district includes Ferguson and Berkeley.

In fact, she said, if she were the police officer, she would have shot, too.

The Berkeley officer was wearing a body camera but did not activate it at the time of the shooting.

Millikan, the officer’s attorney, declined to elaborate, saying only that “there might be some internal issues.”

Belmar said the officer told his investigators that he had been doing something else when the body camera was handed to him at roll call.

“He said he clipped it somewhere in the car, didn’t put it on, and next thing you know you’re here,” Belmar said, adding that it could happen, particularly with new equipment if you aren’t used to it.

Berkeley Mayor Hoskins said the cameras were new, but once the officers are better trained on them, there would be penalties for not wearing them.

Belmar said he did not believe the car’s dash-camera was activated.

Another outspoken critic of the police, State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis), noted that the presence of a gun set Martin’s killing apart from Brown’s.

Still, she took to Twitter, calling for a special prosecutor to take the case because she believes all police-involved killings should be handled by special prosecutors.

Belmar said he had notified St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch of the shooting, and McCulloch assigned a prosecutor to the case.

The NAACP released a statement Wednesday, asking St. Louis to “refrain from any violent retaliation.”

Martin’s mother, Toni Martin-Green, collapsed in another woman’s arms at the scene when she learned her son had been killed.

Belmar expressed condolences to Martin’s family, but noted, “bad choices were made.”

“This individual could have complied with the officer,” Belmar said. “It didn’t have to end with him approaching the officer with an arm extended and a 9 mm pistol in his hand.”

Belmar said the officer had one prior use-of-force incident that involved a struggle over the officer’s gun. An armed suspect had barricaded himself inside a home, Belmar said. After police entered, there was a struggle over the officer’s gun. Belmar said the officer had dropped the magazine from his gun and shot into the floor to empty the chamber so the gun couldn’t be used against him.

Millikan described his client’s demeanor in the hours following Tuesday’s shooting as calm but shaken.

“On the one hand, you know you have followed proper procedures and policies, and, on the other hand, these guys are human beings, and on the day before Christmas, he had to take somebody’s life,” Millikan said.
___
(Christine Byers, Jesse Bogan, Valerie Schremp Hahn, Nicholas J.C. Pistor and Jennifer Mann of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.)

Photo: Protesters yell at police protecting the perimeter of a scene on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014 where teenager was fatally shot by a police officer about 90 minutes before at a Mobil gas station on North Hanley Road in Berkeley, Mo. (David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS)

Long History Of Racial Tension Set The Stage For Ferguson Protests

Long History Of Racial Tension Set The Stage For Ferguson Protests

By Matthew Teague, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

FERGUSON, Mo. — As Dorothy Kaiser rides down the main streets of Ferguson, the town unfolds before her like a diary. This neighborhood is newer, that one is older, she raised her children in this house, and grew up in that one herself.

As far as anyone can tell, she has lived here longer than anyone. She’s 80 now, and moved to Ferguson at 2. She understands this place.

Moving west along one of the town’s central streets, Suburban, she points and recounts and smiles. She knows every doorway and mailbox.

Then, at a narrow spot in the road, she falls silent. The diary slams shut.

“I wouldn’t really know this area,” she says.

This is where the gate used to be, she says.

The one to keep black people out.
___

At the narrow spot there’s a sign: “Welcome to City of Kinloch.”

In a few hours, a grand jury will announce its decision not to indict a Ferguson police officer who shot an unarmed black man, touching off protests around the nation, with a violent start outside the Ferguson Police Department. The grand jury, and observers around the world, spent months examining the questions of what happened, and how. But it’s here, on Ferguson’s border with a forgotten community called Kinloch, where you can find the history that helps explain the explosive aftermath.

Kinloch is the oldest black town in Missouri, and possibly west of the Mississippi River, formed in the 1890s when a real estate developer found a loophole in laws against selling property to black people. Life there centered on Kinloch Airfield, a history-making place where President Teddy Roosevelt flew in a plane built by the Wright brothers, where the first control tower was built, where a man first parachuted out of a plane.

Larman Williams grew up in Kinloch. He is now 80, like his white counterpart, Dorothy Kaiser. Like her, he knew his town block by block, and remembers it as a vibrant place. “People were wonderful,” he said.

People were poor, sure, but they worked hard. The problem was that other than the airport, all the businesses — and so, the tax base — were based in Ferguson. Black people from Kinloch could cross into Ferguson during the day to work as maids or factory men. But they had to be back across the border by sunset, when the gates closed.

The ordinance ordering black people out of town was known as the “sundown law” and cities across the nation had similar rules. Ferguson’s was around into the 1940s. And if whites and blacks had little contact or understanding of each other, that wasn’t surprising.

“Oh, I was scared of them,” Kaiser said. “They were black. They were different.”

The fear climbed in Ferguson, Kaiser said, when Missouri changed its laws against selling property to black people. “There was anxiety,” she said. “They were coming.”

And no gate could stop them.
___

By the late 1960s, Williams had finished school — a master’s degree in education — and taken a job as a teacher. He and his wife, Geraldine, decided to buy a home of their own.

“I wanted to live in a nice house,” he said recently, laughing. “I had bought us a big new car, and wanted a house to go with it.”

The house he saw on Buckeye Drive in Ferguson seemed ideal. Lots of windows, a big yard that sloped down to the street. A “for sale” sign.

“So I called,” he said. But the real estate agent could tell he was black, on the phone. No sale.

So Williams found a way around it, by calling his pastor, who went to speak to the seller on his behalf and vouched for his character, his work ethic, his spirituality. And it worked. In 1968, Larman Williams became the first black man in his neighborhood — and probably all of Ferguson — to buy property. His three children were the first black students to go to the Ferguson school.

“It was important, yes it was,” Geraldine said. She and Williams have since divorced and he lives in a home for seniors. But she still lives in the little house on Buckeye, where the day before Thanksgiving she and her grandchildren cooked in the kitchen.

Buying a house there felt important. But it didn’t feel good. Neighbors stood off from them, at first. Other kids wouldn’t befriend theirs.

Then one day, things started to change. “My neighbor called out to me from his yard,” Williams said. “He wanted to apologize. He had seen humanity in us, with time. People started to see us as part of the neighborhood.”
___

By the 1980s, everything in Ferguson changed.

The Kinloch Airfield, which had grown to become the St. Louis airport, needed land as it expanded. Lots of land. So it began buying up homes in Kinloch, scarfing up property at prices above the going rate — creating a pressure shift between Kinloch and Ferguson. Suddenly black people had enormous incentive to leave Kinloch and cross the border permanently.

“You had people with enough money to buy houses they couldn’t have afforded otherwise,” said former Ferguson Mayor Brian Fletcher. “Houses they couldn’t afford to maintain. So things went down.”

At first, black residents wound up clustered in neighborhoods where it was easier for them to buy property. Then, in relatively short order, they became the predominant demographic in Ferguson. In 1990, roughly three-quarters of residents were white, and one quarter was black. In 20 years that ratio reversed.

Kinloch imploded. Its population dwindled to just a couple of hundred people.

As Ferguson became more black, its political structure stayed white. The specifics would later be picked apart on cable news: A white mayor. An almost exclusively white City Council. Among scores of police officers, only a couple who were not white.

Fletcher said the city struggled during his term to find black police officers. Ferguson wanted them, he said, but they could make much better money in wealthier neighboring towns with lower crime rates. “They got the cream of the crop,” Fletcher said. “We just couldn’t make the ratios.”

Fletcher now runs the “I Love Ferguson” shop downtown, where he sat recently surrounded by Ferguson souvenirs. He spoke with enormous passion about his town.

Yes, there was a problem, he said. But no one knew how to solve it.

“I mean, yeah, there was tension,” he said. He shrugged and held his shoulders hunched. “But there’s always going to be tension. Right?”
___

The night the grand jury announced its decision not to indict police Officer Darren Wilson for shooting Michael Brown, people gathered on the street in front of the Ferguson Police Department.

The crowd organized itself in identifiable concentric rings. On the edges there were people who came for the spectacle, laughing, jubilant. Toward the middle were people concerned but not violent; they had come to speak out. And at the middle, pressed against the barricades, was a core of people who spat at the police facing them.

“How can you live with yourself?” yelled 55-year-old Marvin Skull, who wore a ski mask and a bulletproof vest. He singled out the lone black officer in the line of police. “Hey, there’s some trash over here! Why don’t you come tidy it up for your masters?”

At the center of the protest someone used a bullhorn to castigate the police, in the minutes before the grand jury announced its findings. A few seconds after the announcement, the bullhorn arced through the air, end over end, and crashed into the police’s riot shields. The time for words had given way.

The rest of the night played out on front pages and television screens around the world, as looters plundered stores and some businesses went up in flames.

In his tiny room at the senior center, Larman Williams sat among the signifiers of his life: his Bible, his diploma, a photo of his parents, a photo of his children. He watched as the events unspooled on his television.

At first Williams understood the protesters and their wants. He had lived in this town — with this police force — longer than any of them. But once the violence started, he said, he felt nothing but heartbreak.

Many protesters were young — born decades after blacks had to leave Ferguson by nightfall. Many weren’t even from Ferguson — agitators who poured into town from other parts of Missouri or other states.

“It’s not the way we do this,” he said. “It’s so much foolishness.”

He searched a moment for his eyeglasses on a table, and finally looked up.

“I’m tired,” he said.

Photo: Curtis Minter, right, of Akron, Ohio, at the memorial to Michael Brown in the Canfield Apartment complex in Ferguson, Mo., on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014. “This case has too many unanswered questions not to deserve a trial,” Minter said. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS)