Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- September 17, 2017
- Targets
- Fareed Alston (Independent)
- Case number
- 4:19-cv-02590
- Case Status
- Settled
- Type of case
- Class Action
- Arrest Status
- Arrested and released
- Arresting Authority
- St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
- Charges
-
-
Rioting: failure to disperse
- Sept. 17, 2017: Charges pending
- Oct. 18, 2017: Charges dropped
-
Rioting: failure to disperse
- Unnecessary use of force?
- Yes
Arrest/Criminal Charge
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
- Equipment Broken
- Actor
- Law enforcement
Equipment Damage
![REUTERS/Joshua Lott](https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX3GQV8.width-910.jpg)
Around 100 demonstrators and multiple journalists were pepper-sprayed and arrested during protests following a not guilty verdict in the murder trial of a former St. Louis, Missouri, police officer on Sept. 17, 2017.
Filmmaker gets part of $4.9 million class-action settlement
Documentary filmmaker Fareed Alston received an undisclosed payout to settle his claims as part of a class-action lawsuit against the City of St. Louis, Missouri, and nearly 400 of its police officers.
The suit alleged that police violated the rights of 84 individuals during protests on Sept. 17, 2017, in response to the acquittal of a former St. Louis police officer in the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, a Black man.
Officers used a technique called “kettling” to encircle and arrest demonstrators, bystanders and members of the press en masse, including Alston. The filmmaker said that multiple officers pepper-sprayed and beat him for several minutes before placing him under arrest, and that multiple pieces of his equipment were damaged or lost.
At least nine journalists were assaulted, arrested or both in the kettle that night.
The city denied any wrongdoing and agreed to pay more than $4.9 million as part of the settlement agreement on Jan. 26, 2023, according to court records reviewed by the Tracker. The Post-Dispatch reported that the sum is one of the largest protest-related settlements in the country, with an average of $58,500 per person.
The Associated Press reported that the first settlement checks were distributed on Aug. 4. Alston had filed a motion a day earlier to dismiss his separate 2018 lawsuit against the city and law enforcement officers. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he did not want to discuss the details of the payout he received and that he still isn’t sure how he feels about the settlement or what the full extent of the incident’s impact on him has been.
But he said that the lawsuit being concluded is a relief. “These six years have been long and I’ve been a part of this case from the beginning. I’m tired. To see it be resolved and not having to put more effort into it is a true benefit,” he said.
Alston added: “To receive some compensation helps with some of the physical trauma that I experienced from being assaulted and arrested, with reimbursing me for some of the damaged equipment.”
According to a lawsuit filed on his behalf, documentary filmmaker Fareed Alston was assaulted, arrested and his equipment damaged while documenting protests in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sept. 17, 2017.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that more than 1,000 people had gathered in downtown St. Louis to protest the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
That night, police officers advanced around the intersection of Washington Avenue and Tucker Boulevard, boxing in approximately 100 people for arrest or detention in a maneuver called kettling.
On Sept. 17, 2018, one year after the kettling arrests, ArchCity Defenders, a legal advocacy organization, and the law firm of Khazaeli Wyrsch filed 12 lawsuits against the St. Louis Metro Police Department on behalf of individuals whom they said were treated illegally by police officers during the protests. Alston and two freelance video journalists, Mark Gullet and Demetrius Thomas, were among those represented.
According to the lawsuit filed on Alston’s behalf, Alston arrived in downtown St. Louis with his assistant between 9 – 10:30 p.m. CST on Sept. 17. Both were carrying official press passes and cameras for the purpose of documenting the protest.
Though many of the protesters had already dispersed, a small group was standing on the side of Washington Avenue. The lawsuit says that Alston also saw approximately 50 to 100 St. Louis police officers dressed in riot gear, so he and his assistant split up and began filming. According to the complaint, officers did not indicate that the filmmakers should not enter the area or that a mass arrest was imminent.
Shortly after, a line of police started advancing toward the demonstrators. According to the complaint, an apartment tenant allowed Alston’s assistant to enter the building and escape the marching line of police, but Alston was unable to do the same. Alston then noticed a second line of police approaching from the opposite direction, beginning to box in all those present while pounding their batons against their shields and the ground.
While continuing to film, Alston and a few other people approached the line of bicycle police who made up one side of the kettle so they could ask to leave. As they neared, the complaint says, the officers started “slamming” their bicycles on the ground. Alston searched for another exit, but finding none he re-approached a bicycle officer to ask to be let out.
“Without warning or any verbal directions, the police officer pushed Mr. Alston back with his baton and his shield and started to fire pepper spray directly at Mr. Alston’s face,” the complaint says. “At the same time, a second officer began to pepper spray Mr. Alston.”
Alston and others around him fell to the ground, and were quickly surrounded by police. According to the complaint, a number of officers began kicking Alston while continuing to douse him in pepper spray for several minutes.
Officers then turned Alston over and cuffed him with three zip ties, causing immediate pain. Another officer roughly pulled the camera from around Alston’s neck, “slammed” it on the ground and powered it off.
The lawsuit says that at one point an officer began to taunt Alston.
“The officer said that this is what Mr. Alston got for wanting to videotape the police. Other officers also told Mr. Alston not to record what was happening. It was clear that Mr. Alston was targeted for documenting the protest,” the complaint says.
Alston was taken to St. Louis City Justice Center alongside others arrested at the scene, where he was incarcerated for nearly 24 hours and received minimal medical attention. His camera was returned to him upon his release, but it had been badly damaged and pieces of his lighting equipment — including a lighting fixture and its power source — were lost when he was roughly cuffed.
According to the complaint, Alston continues to suffer physical and psychological repercussions from his arrest and assault, including persistent numbness in his hand, chronic respiratory issues and nightmares. He also no longer feels comfortable covering protests, which had been the main subject of his work.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented 10 journalists detained, arrested, assaulted or had their equipment damaged while covering the protests that night.
Alston, Thomas, Gullet and the other plaintiffs are seeking damages, attorneys fees, expenses and any other relief the court deems appropriate. Alston’s case is not expected to go to trial until early 2021.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].