ST. LOUIS _ About a quarter of the 120 people arrested last year during protests downtown filed lawsuits alleging improper behavior by police, including beatings, destruction of property and pepper spray in their eyes.
But when indictments came down Thursday against four of the police officers responding to the Sept. 17 unrest _ at the epicenter of Washington Avenue and Tucker Boulevard _ the only victim named was an undercover cop.
That left protesters and the attorneys representing those arrested that night wondering if any other charges would come out of the FBI-led investigation.
"Imagine seeing these punks (cops) who beat you, maced you, harassed you at protests while you're out running an errand," said longtime social justice activist Kayla Reed on Twitter. "We see them at gas stations, grocery stores, bars ... everywhere. It takes an undercover cop getting beat by them to have real accountability.
"I'm pissed."
State Rep. Bruce Franks Jr., who like Reed, rose through the protest movement after Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson in August 2014, responded to the indictments in a Facebook post. He wrote about a march a year ago, with 1,000 people taking to the streets with blue tape over their mouths. It was to show that police would not root out their own, even when officers beat up one of their own, he said.
"Where were my Blue Lives Matter folks then? This was an opportunity to bridge a gap, and stand for what's right," Franks said. "Now I'm eager to see what will happen with those whose rights were violated that aren't cops."
It's a question the FBI, U.S. attorney and St. Louis police chief are not commenting on. But attorneys for those arrested think answers eventually could come as their lawsuits for unlawful arrest and inappropriate police behavior wind through the court process.
"We hope that this is just a first step and that our clients receive the same protections that this undercover police officer has received," said attorney Javad Khazaeli.
Khazaeli, through his firm, Khazaeli Wyrsch, and ArchCity Defenders, a nonprofit civil rights law firm, represent 23 people who were surrounded by police in a controversial maneuver called kettling and arrested for failing to disperse. Those arrested said they were unable to leave the area, as police marched in lines from all four sides. Armed with shields and batons, some of the officers chanted "Whose streets? Our streets," co-opting a popular phrase used by demonstrators during marches. Later, the interim police chief, Lawrence O'Toole, said police "owned tonight."
Among those arrested was former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Mike Faulk, who has filed his own lawsuit, along with two people from Kansas City who have separate legal counsel, Khazaeli said. Others arrested that night included downtown residents trying to get into their lofts and two military officers serving at Scott Air Force Base who lived nearby.
Khazaeli said Friday that he is in the process of talking with his clients following the indictments and suspensions of the four officers.
"Generally, our clients are encouraged that this first step has happened," Khazaeli said. "But they are also concerned that this indictment is limited to the abuse of the undercover officer and does not address the abuse they endured."
One client, Fareed Alston, a video journalist documenting the protest, and wearing identification as a member of the media, was arrested by Officer Christopher Myers, according to the arrest report.
Prosecutors allege that Myers and officers Dustin Boone and Randy Hays threw Detective Luther Hall to the ground, and kicked and hit him with a police baton during the Sept. 17 protest. Hall, who is black, was working undercover. Activists marched through downtown streets following the acquittal of former police Officer Jason Stockley, who is white. He was charged with murder for the fatal shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith, a black motorist.
The fourth indicted officer, Bailey Colletta is accused of lying to a federal grand jury investigating the incident. She and Hays were in a romantic relationship at the time of protest, according to the indictment.
Alston's lawsuit alleges that he approached an officer in an attempt to get past the lines of police that had him and others boxed in. He was pushed back and pepper sprayed in the face by an officer. On the ground, he was kicked and pepper sprayed again. Like others arrested that night, Alston's hands were zip-tied together. One of the officers yanked the camera from around Alston's neck and threw it to the ground. The camera was destroyed.
The cases filed against police are civil, seeking monetary damages. But they lay out the same kinds of details that were used to bring criminal charges against the four officers indicted Thursday, Khazaeli said.
After the arrests, the ACLU of Missouri filed suit against the city, asking a judge to ban certain police practices including "arbitrary arrests" of protesters and use of force against them, specifically chemical munitions such as pepper spray. The judge issued a preliminary injunction against such actions until a trial in August determines whether there will be any permanent police policy changes. No initial ruling was made on the ACLU's third request, which was to prohibit police from deleting video from protesters or confiscating their phones.
Based on testimony in the ACLU's injunction case, it's clear the abuse goes much deeper in the ranks than the four indicted officers, said the organization's legal director, Tony Rothert.
"It is a fantasy world to think that they were the only police officers who engaged in misconduct and when they did that it was when they mistook an undercover police officer, a black man, they thought was a protester," Rothert said. "It would be a terrible lesson if someone took from this that, 'Oh, it's OK to still use gratuitous force and make arrests as as long as they don't get an undercover cop.'"
ArchCity Defenders and Khazaeli took a similar stance in a joint statement after the indictments were announced: "There is no reason to believe that it was only these four officers engaged in such misconduct, and it is unfathomable that a single undercover officer was the only victim."
Rothert said the FBI talked to people other than Hall, but it remains unclear whether that will lead to more indictments. If not, it could indicate business as usual in police overstepping their legal bounds.
"I hope," Rothert said, "they do not pass up an opportunity for reform."
