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St. Louis American See page B3
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Mayoral candidates take center stage
Vol. 92 No. 52 COMPLIMENTARY
Five more officers testify against former colleagues All of them accused of beating undercover officer during protest
By Christine Byers KSDK
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
St. Louis Mayoral Debate on Tuesday, Mar. 23, 2021 between St. Louis City Treasurer Tishaura Jones and Alderwoman Cara Spencer at KTVI Fox 2 Studios in Maryland Heights.
First televised debate since primary By Dana Rieck Of The St. Louis American In the first televised debate since the mayoral primary, St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones asserted she was ready to lead the city with her experience and professional relationships, while Alderwoman Cara Spencer drove home the fact that she will come prepared to lead with a 10-point plan to address the city’s violent crime rates. Not surprisingly, given the uptick in violent crime in recent years, the majority of questions centered on crime, policing and public safety. Those questions were asked Tuesday evening on Fox2Now by a panel
n Jones said the city needs to pivot from an “arrest and incarcerate model” to a prevention-centered model.
of local journalists, as well as by community members who submitted their inquiries online. That panel consisted of Linda Lockhart, representing the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists and the St. Louis Press Club; Michael Calhoun, a report-
er with KMOX Radio; and Gilbert Bailon, editor-in-chief of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Lockhart kicked off the debate after opening statements, asking how the candidates planned to address the root causes of crime. Both candidates acknowledged the need to reestablish trust between community members and the police. “We need to put the public back in public safety,” Jones said, an idea she reiterated throughout the night. “And that means making sure that we are deploying the right person to the right call. Not only has St. Louis experienced its most violent year in decades, we
See DEBATE, A7
Basketball legend Elgin Baylor, one of first to suspend in air, dies at 86 By Earl Austin Jr. Of The St. Louis American The National Basketball Association family lost one of its most legendary figures in Elgin Baylor, who passed away on Monday. He was 86. Baylor spent his 14-year NBA career with the Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers. He was one of the greatest offensive players in the history of the game and a forerunner to many future great players who made many great plays while suspended in the air. When you think of great players such as Julius “Dr. J.” Erving, Connie Hawkins, Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan, Clyde “The Glide” Drexler and LeBron James who excited fans with their mid-air exploits, it was Elgin Baylor who was the first who brought this kind of acrobatic excitement to the NBA in the late 1950’s and 60’s with hanging jump shots and slam dunks. A native of Washington D.C., Baylor was a collegiate star at Seattle University, where he led the Chieftains to the school’s only Final Four appearance in the NCAA
n Elgin Baylor was one of the greatest offensive players in the history of the game and a forerunner to many future great players who made many great plays while suspended in the air.
Tournament in 1957. He averaged more than 30 points during his college career. He also averaged nearly 20 rebounds a game to lead the nation as a senior. Baylor was the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft in 1959 and earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1959 after finishing second in the league in scoring and third in rebounding. In his 14 seasons with the Lakers, the 6’5” Baylor scored 23,149 points, grabbed 11,463 rebounds and handed out 3,650 assists. He was an 11-time NBA All-Star and was
See BAYLOR, A7
Elgin Baylor during his playing days with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Five more officers testified Tuesday against two former St. Louis police officers and one current officer on trial this week for beating an undercover colleague disguised as a protester in 2017. All of them varied in their recollections of who was there on the night Officer Luther Hall was assaulted, what they saw and where they were. Perhaps one of the most significant moments came when defense attorneys suggested Sgt. Joseph Marcantano was the one who kneed Hall in the back as he was sitting on a curb — not one of the officers on trial this week. The day kicked off with more testimony from former St. Louis Officer, now FBI Agent, Uzoma Onwumere. He testified for about four hours between Monday and Luther Hall Tuesday. He said he saw former Officer Chris Myers using knee strikes and rapid punches on the lower part of Officer Hall’s body. Hall was working undercover as a protester on Sept. 17, 2017, to document property damage. Along with Myers, former Officer Dustin Boone and current officer Steven Korte are on trial this week for their roles in the attack. Two other former officers, Randy Hays and Bailey Colletta, have already pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Onwumere said Hall’s arrest caught his attention because Hall was being so quiet during the struggle, and he focused his attention on Myers for 30 to 45 seconds. Myers’ attorney, Scott Rosenblum, took Onwumere through dozens of photographs in which Onwumere insisted he
See OFFICERS, A6
Report shows county police racial disparities persist By Dana Rieck Of The St. Louis American After three years of data collection and analysis, an outside organization has found racial disparities persist within the St. Louis County Police Department’s traffic stops and incidents of use of force. The Center for Policing Equity (CPE) report was released March 16 during the police commissioner’s meeting. The CPE is a nonprofit research think tank based at the University of California-Los Angeles and analyzed the department’s policing practices from 2016 through 2018 to identify where racial disparities occur in policing. They also provided 10 actionable steps to correct these disparities. Michael Burbank, accounts management and implementation director of law enforcement initiatives at CPE, presented the findings at the meeting. He said the report had three goals: identify disparities, identify the factors that contributed to these disparities and recommend actions to address these disparities. “Findings of racial disparities are always a reason for concern,” he told St. Louis County Police Department Board of Police Commissioners on March 16. “They’re not
See DISPARITIES, A6