Protestors rally to keep abortion services in Missouri
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
91 years of serving the St. Louis community
CAC Audited JUNE 6 – 12, 2019
Vol. 91 No. 11 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
A post by Thomas Mabrey, a St. Louis police officer, revealed in the Plain View Project’s report on social media posts by police officers from eight departments across the country, including the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Ethical Society of Police calls for firing of cops over racist posts SLMPD launched internal review of social media use revealed by Plain View Project By Francene Bethune For The St. Louis American The President of St. Louis Ethical Society of Police demanded that St. Louis police officers be fired after the Plain View Project published its review of social media posts by a number of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) officers with racist or bigoted content. “The officers should be fired,” said Sgt. Heather Taylor,
president of the Ethical Society of Police, which advocates for equity in police work. “The posts were racist, vile, and steeped in violent ideologies. Many of the officer posts demonstrated views similar to white nationalists and the KKK. That thought process has no business within SLMPD. The officers involved have clearly shown they can’t protect and serve the community they are supposed to
See COPS, A7
‘Actions must be taken’ Advocates say data on racial bias in police stops compels legislation, punishment By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Keep it safe and legal Protesters marched in support of a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion in downtown St. Louis on Thursday, May 30. See coverage of the fight to protect abortion rights in Missouri on pages A10-11.
Black drivers are 91 percent more likely to be stopped in Missouri than white drivers, according to the Missouri attorney general’s 2018 Vehicle Stops report released on May 31. “For the 18th year in a row, the attorney general’s office has released a study that shows black drivers and people of color are disproportionately stopped and searched by law enforcement,” said Alicia Hernandez, of the ACLU of Missouri, at a press conference on Monday, June 3. “A report is not enough. Actions must be taken. Without action, Missouri will remain a state where minority drivers are harassed and left to feel unsafe and unwelcome.” In 2000, Missouri citizens and state legislators who were concerned with bias in traffic enforcement successfully pushed to pass a state
See POLICE, A6
‘I’m doing it for my kids’ Goodwill adult high school graduates first class in St. Louis By Ryan Delaney Of St. Louis Public Radio Three courses of algebra stood between Amanda McCleary and a high school diploma. McCleary, 33, tried twice over the years to earn a GED certificate since dropping out of Vashon High School in St. Louis as a teenager, but the timing wasn’t quite right. When she learned from a friend about a high
school for adults being started by MERS Goodwill, “I called instantly,” she said. McCleary was one of five women in bright blue caps and gowns at the first graduation ceremony in downtown St. Louis on May 29 for the alternative high school program that started in October. A sixth student had to miss the ceremony for work. McCleary, who clutched her diploma and a bouquet in one hand as she moved her tassel
from right to left with the other, said it meant “everything in the fact that my children are watching me walk across the stage; it just was the icing on the cake.” MERS Goodwill, the Missouri and southern Illinois branch of the national job training nonprofit, started the Excel Center high schools last year under a state
See GOODWILL, A7
Photo by Ryan Delaney / St. Louis Public Radio
Amanda McCleary, 33, moved her tassel at the first graduation ceremony of MERS Goodwill’s Excel Center high school for adults on May 29.