ST. LOUIS – FOX 2 video from 2017 is now key evidence at a civil trial in St. Louis federal court.
A protester accuses three St. Louis police officers—one of whom has since retired—of using excessive force in the wake of the verdict in the murder trial of former police officer Jason Stockley, who shot and killed drug suspect Anthony Lamar Smith while on duty in 2011.
The three officers named in the civil suit were not charged with crimes.
The video is from Bommarito Automotive Group SkyFOX on Sept. 15, 2017. A St. Louis judge found Stockley not guilty of murder on that day. The video shows protester Laura Jones being knocked to the pavement at Clark and Tucker in downtown St. Louis, with police officers stepping over her and then arresting her. The video was featured on news reports across the nation.
In her opening statement, Jones’ attorney, Alicia Campbell, played the video for the eight jurors (5 men, 3 women), saying Jones was respectful, did not resist, and posed no threat to police.
Jones “was harmed,” Campbell told jurors, adding that the scope of the case was narrow and that the only question for them to decide was whether the use of force was “necessary and reasonable.”
She added that Jones was seeking the exact amount of $177,600 in damages, hardly seeking to “cash in” from the lawsuit filed in 2019.
Attorney Abby Duncan of the St. Louis City Counselor’s Office, which is representing the three officers, told jurors the videos and photos of the incident did not show excessive force by police. She said Jones initiated contact with officers, then tripped and fell.
She noted that protesters had injured officers throwing chunks of concrete, bottles filled with unknown liquids, and pieces of a manhole cover.
“Context is king in this case,” she said, adding that Jones later confided to her cousin that what happened to her “wasn’t as bad as it looks” in the video.
Testimony is expected to continue into Wednesday, with Jones taking the stand as early as Tuesday.