As long as police officers remained silent about a bill proposing civilian oversight of police, a St. Louis City Hall public meeting hummed along nicely.
But when the officers began to speak in opposition to the bill, all hell broke lose.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the Wednesday night meeting “devolved into a melee” after an exchange of words between Alderman Terry Kennedy and St. Louis Police Officers Association business manager Jeff Roorda.
“How about some order here,” Roorda called out after an unruly crowd interrupted an officer’s remarks.
“Excuse me, first of all, you do not tell me my function,” Kennedy replied.
According to the Post-Dispatch, Roorda shouted back at Kennedy as others began yelling, and then pushing and shoving broke out as officials tried in vain to regain control.
“We spent the night hearing from anti-police radicals,” Roorda told the Post-Dispatch. “We hear from two police officers and he (Kennedy) lets the place go wild.”
The “anti-police radicals” said Roorda started the brawl when he pushed a woman and they demanded that the union official be arrested.
The area has seen months of protests following the death of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson, Mo. Protests that culminated with rioting and looting, and participants setting ablaze dozens of local businesses — all under the guise of “peaceful protests.”
And the protesters have been buoyed in their efforts by the Obama administration, with a select few even being invited to the White House to meet with the president. So you’ll have to excuse them if they tend to be a bit pushy and act as if they expect to get their way.
As with most fast breaking news, social media served as an able platform to report on what was happening.
Here is a sampling of tweets from the meeting, as seen on Twitter:
Brawl has started after Alderman Terry Kennedy and Police Union manager Jeff Roorda exchanged words
— Nicholas J.C. Pistor (@nickpistor) January 29, 2015
Wow! Things just got outta hand pic.twitter.com/58WbugaeKR
— Christina Coleman (@ChristinaKSDK) January 29, 2015
Lots of shouting, officers trying to break things up pic.twitter.com/WAs2iSTwq3
— Christina Coleman (@ChristinaKSDK) January 29, 2015
Meeting on proposed civilian oversight review board out of control at City Hall. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/BrLSctHIAJ
— Robert Cohen (@kodacohen) January 29, 2015
Brawl at St Louis City Hall over civilian review of police. A video posted by Nicholas Pistor (@npistor) on
@nickpistor the city is an embarrassment, these fools want to control the police and have a review board? they couldnt run a lemonade stand
— Chris in STL (@seeeek) January 29, 2015
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
[email protected]
The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
Comments are closed.