Documentary filmmakers sue over arrest at St. Louis protest
ST. LOUIS — Two documentary filmmakers are suing the city of St. Louis and three police officers, saying one of them was cursed at and beaten and they were both sprayed with chemicals when they were arrested during a protest following the acquittal of a white former police officer in the killing of a black man.
Drew and Jennifer Burbridge of Kansas City, Missouri, filed the federal lawsuit Tuesday, alleging their constitutional rights were violated when they were arrested, taunted and assaulted by St. Louis officers.
Qur’an Addo, a spokesman for St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, declined comment Thursday.
The Burbridges were among about 120 people taken into custody in a mass arrest on Sept. 17, two days after a judge ruled that Jason Stockley was not guilty of first-degree murder in the 2011 death of Anthony Lamar Smith. The ruling sparked several protests throughout the St. Louis region.