ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Megan Green moved her lawsuit against the city she serves out of federal court this week and into state court.
Green sued the City of St. Louis five years ago in federal court, demanding a jury trial over its handling of a Central West End protest she attended following the Jason Stockley verdict in 2017.
Green’s lawsuit names the city and 13 St. Louis police officers, including Lt. Col. Lawrence O'Toole, who was serving as interim police chief at the time.
In 2017, former police officer Jason Stockley was acquitted of first-degree murder in the shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith, sparking protests across the St. Louis area.
The city has paid out about $10 million in settlements to people who have accused officers of excessive force and wrongful arrests; $5 million of it went to a Black former city police officer who was working undercover as a protester.
Green’s attorney, Javad Khazaeli, represented many of the protesters who have already received settlements. He said moving the lawsuit to state court is purely strategic.
“The case law on First Amendment claims has changed over the last few years,” he said. “There are things within federal court that allow these cases to drag on for years and years.
“We're six years since the abuse occurred.”
Khazaeli estimates there were about 25 lawsuits filed against the city following the protests. Most got consolidated into a class action that was settled. Green’s is among about six others that are all being refiled in state court and removed voluntarily from federal court.
Green’s lawsuit followed a protest she attended on Sept. 15, 2017, along with hundreds of others in the Central West End.
In the lawsuit, she alleges officers indiscriminately fired tear gas at peaceful protesters, and she took shelter in a local synagogue, where she "experienced the terror of officers pounding on the doors and threatening the occupants."
After about 90 minutes, Green said she was able to leave the synagogue and head to her car when she saw an armored police vehicle performing a "drive-by" and firing tear gas canisters without warning at random people on the street.
Green suffered "excruciating pain" as a result of the tear gas and dealt with respiratory issues for months afterward, the lawsuit said.
"Ms. Green has witnessed the St. Louis police use the drive-by tactic before, in 2014 during the Michael Brown protests, which was the basis for St. Louis police entering a consent decree promising not to do the exact actions that injured Ms. Green four years earlier," the lawsuit said.
Green said she would donate any money she may win from the lawsuit to a 25-year managed racial equity fund, which was recommended by the Ferguson Commission but the city has "failed to pursue."