10-year-old entrepreneur sells Skylarlicious Naturals
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– See page B2
St. LouiS AmericAn The
91 years serving, empowering and advocating equity in St. Louis
CAC Audited DECEMBER 12 – 18, 2019
Vol. 91 No. 38 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Schmitt blocking new trial for Lamar Johnson
Man accused of stalking allegedly threatened to kill Wesley Bell Gerald Clinton Golden held in county jail on $50,000 cash-only bond By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Lamar Johnson’s sister Candace Chrisp and his mother Mae Johnson braved the cold to bring attention to Johnson’s case on Tuesday, December 10 in front of the Old Post Office downtown. A group of about 25 community leaders and residents, organized by Color Of Change and Organization for Black Struggle, demonstrated outside of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office to demand that he stop trying to block a new trial for Lamar Johnson.
Family, community press AG to let circuit attorney try new evidence Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American Brittany Johnson wants her father to come home after spending almost 25 years in prison for a murder than St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner argues he did not commit.
“He’s never abandoned me,” Johnson said. “After so many years growing up without your father, and then you have all these people who are standing up behind him, it just seems like everything is coming to the light. And there’s no turning back.” Brittany Johnson gathered with about 25
community leaders and residents outside of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office on Tuesday, December 10 to demand that he stop trying to block a new trial for her father, Lamar Johnson. Twenty-four years ago, Lamar Johnson was convicted of murdering Marcus Boyd on October 30, 1994, though evidence shows that Johnson was at a friend’s house and would
See JOHNSON, A6
A 40-year-old white man made racist death threats to St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell and Assistant Prosecutor Craig Smith on Tuesday, December 3 and is now in the county jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond. The man, Gerald Clinton Golden, of Overland, faces charges of a felony of stalking in the first degree. Golden also made threats to kill Circuit Judge Robert M. Heggie, who is white. On Tuesday, December 3 — Golden’s 40th birthday — he sent numerous vile and racist text messages to an AfricanAmerican woman, Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI threatening to rape Wesley Bell and murder her. In his texts, he indicated that he felt he was being falsely prosecuted and that he was going to murder Heggie, Smith and Bell. “Read and weap, [N-word.] A war has started. I will win,” he wrote. The graphic nature and repeated use of the N-word has prevented the American from posting the text messages themselves. The woman reported the text messages to Bell’s office. The St. Louis American is withholding the victim’s name for her safety. According to the St. Louis County Police
See BELL, A6
ACLU asks Supreme Court to protect protest rights
‘We must be willing to be moral and militant’
Appellate ruling in favor of police ignores 1st Amendment precedent
Rev. Earle J. Fisher calls black faith community to political action
By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
By Chris King Of The St. Louis American The Deaconess Foundation brought a national leader on faith reform in Rev. Jim Wallis to St. Louis on Monday, December 9, as part of its Just 4 Kids Community Conversation series, which has emerged as a touch point for the regional social justice community. Wallis, president and editor-in-chief of Sojourners, brought a powerful message drawn from his book “Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus.” But the response to his talk by Rev. Earle J. Fisher, senior pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in
See FISHER, A7
Photo by Wiley Price
Rev. Earle J. Fisher, senior pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Memphis and founder of #UPTheVote901 (center), responded to Rev. Jim Wallis, president and editor-in-chief of Sojourners, at the Deaconess Foundation’s Just 4 Kids Community Conversation on Monday, December 9. To the left is Rev. Michelle Higgins of Faith for Justice.
A lawsuit against prominent activist DeRay Mckesson threatens to dismantle U.S. Supreme Court precedent from the civil rights era that safeguards the right to protest, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. On Friday, December 6, the ACLU asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case and overturn the Court of Appeals’ ruling against Mckesson and in favor of a Baton Rouge police officer. On July 9, 2016, Mckesson went to Baton Rouge to celebrate the life of Alton Sterling, who was shot and killed by two on-duty police officers four days before, and to demand accountability during a protest. Local organizers had asked him to
See ACLU, A7