Crowd interrupts St. Louis mayor at panel discussion

ST. LOUIS – Audience members shouted down the mayor of St. Louis during a panel discussion about policing and racial equity.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Mayor Lyda Krewson, state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. and others took part in Wednesday night’s panel hosted by St. Louis Young Democrats at Harris-Stowe State University.

Krewson said during the discussion that her office supports independent investigations of police use of force and developing community policing standards. But the mayor was interrupted several times by people in the crowd calling for the resignation of Interim Police Chief Lawrence O’Toole.

Protests have been happening for nearly a month after a judge acquitted a white former police officer in the 2011 shooting death of a black suspect.

The Post-Dispatch says Wednesday’s panel was the first public forum Krewson participated in following the verdict.