Pirate's Cove

Welcome to the crazy world of #BlackLivesMatter, where a stone cold criminal is held up as some sort of paragon

(AP) At least nine people were arrested Wednesday and St. Louis police used tear gas to clear a street of protesters after an armed man fleeing from officers was shot and killed when he pointed a gun at them.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said at a press conference late Wednesday night that a group of protesters who had blocked an intersection threw glass bottles and bricks at officers and refused orders to clear the roadway. Inert gas was used and when that didn’t have any effect on the crowd, police turned to tear gas to clear the intersection, Dotson said. Those arrested face charges of impeding the flow of traffic and resisting arrest, he said.

In addition to the arrests, officers responded to reports of burglaries in the area and the fire department was called after a car was set ablaze, according to Dotson.

What was the protest over?

Dotson said two police officers serving a search warrant Wednesday afternoon at a home in a crime-troubled section of the city’s north side encountered two suspects, one of which was 18-year-old Mansur Ball-Bey. The suspects were fleeing the home as Ball-Bey, who was black, turned and pointed a handgun at the officers, who shot him, the chief said. Ball-Bey died at the scene.

Both officers, who are white, were unharmed, according to a police report.

Dotson said four guns, including the handgun wielded by Ball-Bey, and crack cocaine were recovered at or near the home, which last year yielded illegal guns during a police search. Police are searching for the second suspect, who they said is believed to be in his mid-to-late teens.

So, the police were legally clearing a crackhouse. Ball-Bey ran. During the chase he stopped, turned, and pointed a gun at the officers. One officer shot once, the other three times. Ball-Bey then ran a bit more before collapsing and dying. The gun found on him was stolen from Rolla, Missouri. Two others were arrested at the house, where they also found several other stolen guns.

And then the “protesters” became violent, and caused mayhem and crime in their own neighborhood. KSDK has more in depth coverage of how the “protests” went down.

“Another youth down by the hands of police,” Dex Dockett, 42, who lives nearby, told a reporter. “What could have been done different to de-escalate rather than escalate? They (police) come in with an us-against-them mentality. You’ve got to have the right kind of cops to engage in these types of neighborhoods.”

I don’t know, how about telling us what could have been done different? One would think a citizen would be at least somewhat concerned about people who deal crack, and surely in the same neighborhood. Please explain what police are too do when the perp runs, then points a gun at them.

Another neighborhood resident, Fred Price, said he was skeptical about Dotson’s account that the suspect pointed a gun at officers before being mortally wounded.

“They provoked the situation,” Price, 33, said. “Situations like this make us want to keep the police out of the neighborhood. They’re shooting first, then asking questions.”

Yeah, they apparently provoked it by going to a house with a legal warrant. Couldn’t have anything to do with Ball-Bey being at a crack-house and in possession of a stolen weapon, could it?

Say, where was the protest over Silver Franklin, a black man, killing Donte Woodson, another black man? How about the 4 murdered a week ago? Or the 9 year old Black girl killed and mother wounded in a drive-by Tuesday in Ferguson, part of St. Louis county? How about the 119 Blacks killed this year in St. Louis, solely by other Blacks? Where’s the outrage? Where’s the protest?

Crossed at Right Wing News.