Ex-cop Stockley not guilty in black man's death

On Friday, ex-cop Jason Stockley was found not guilty of first-degree murder for shooting Anthony Lamar Smith, a black motorist.

The verdict induced protests at the courthouse in downtown St. Louis.

In his ruling, St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson said the state failed to prove that Stockley did not act in self-defence. He said he was “simply not firmly convinced of the defendant's guilt”. Stockley, then a St. Louis officer, fatally shot Smith, 24, after a police chase in December 2011 over a suspected drug deal.

Prosecutors said that the gun and heroin retrieved in Smith’s car was planted there by the police force. The judge dismissed it saying it was too large not to have been picked up by the cameras in the vicinity.

Although mostly peaceful, some protesters threw rocks at the windows of the Mayor’s home, while others flung various objects at the local police force injuring 4 officers.

UCJ, UNILORIN.