Protesters clashed with the police again in the neighborhood of Shaw in St. Louis on Thursday night, two days after a off-duty police officer shot and killed an 18-year old man.
Around 200 people chanted, marched and stopped traffic not far from the scene where African-American teen, Vonderrit Myers Jr., was killed by a police officer. The officer claims the victim fired three shots at him.
The protest became violent as it reached Arsenal Street and Grand Boulevard, about a mile and a half from Shaw Boulevard, where Myers was shot. The police, who were wearing protective gears, carrying batons and body shields, surrounded the protesters and threw pepper spray, USA Today reported.
Police detained two protesters, one drug across the ground screaming, according to St. Louis Police chief Sam Dotson, Reuters reported.
Minutes later, demonstrators burned two American flags as a sign of protest against discrimination and racism in their neighborhood.
“It’s not our flag,” said Elizabeth Vega, an artist who said she had been protesting since Michael Brown’s death.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”– Elizabeth Vega” author_title=”St. Louis resident”]
Our children are being killed in the street. This flag doesn’t cover black or brown people… There are Michael Browns everywhere.
[/quote]
According to medical examiner Dr. Michael Graham, Myers was shot from six to seven times in the lower extremities, while a shot to the head killed him, the St. Louis Today reported. The fatal shot entered the right cheek and was recovered in the body.
Myers’ death came more than two months after the killing of unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown, which has also sparked series of sometimes violent protests in the nearby suburban town of Ferguson.
