Missourinet

Your source for Missouri News and Sports

You are here: Home / Archives for Missouri National Guard

Missouri National Guard soldiers responding to protests at nation’s capital

By

Gov. Mike Parson says Missouri is sending National Guard soldiers to Washington, D.C. to help with protests there. At a press conference today, Parson says the troops will be sent out within a day or so.

Missouri National Guard soldiers responding to protests at nation’s capital

“All of our jobs, no matter what state you’re in, no matter who the president is, protecting Washington, D.C., protecting the monuments, protecting our history of who we are, is important and should be important to every citizen,” says Parson. “Politics out the window for aside, we’ve got to maintain that law and order. So, we’re more than willing to help to preserve that.”

Protests have emerged around the country since last week’s death of George Floyd in Minnesota. He died after a white police officer pressed a knee into Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes while the African American man was on the ground in handcuffs.

Other states are also sending troops in response to protests in Washington. About 5,000 troops are reportedly expected to help with security there.

Democratic governors in Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware have turned down requests from Defense Secretary Mark Esper to provide National Guard help in Washington.

More than 1,000 National Guard troops are scattered across Missouri to help keep peaceful protests from turning violent.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Parson to boost Missouri National Guard response to unrest

By

Gov. Mike Parson says more than 1,000 National Guard soldiers will be called up to help crack down on the violent and destructive turmoil going on around Missouri. On Saturday, the governor signed an executive order activating the National Guard to help with ongoing turbulence.

Gov. Mike Parson

Protests have sprung up in several Missouri cities since last week’s police brutality death of George Floyd, an African-American man from Minnesota. A white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes while the man was on the ground face down in handcuffs.

When night falls, the surroundings have become unruly in Kansas City and St. Louis. Four St. Louis police officers were injured during shootings Monday night and a retired officer there was killed by looters. News and police vehicles have been set on fire in both cities. Looters have broken into businesses and damaged property. Officers have been injured by flying objects. People in the crowd have been pepper spray and tear gas has been ignited.

During a press conference today, Parson says he’s not going to tolerate total chaos.

“We’re not going to have police officers, we’re not going to have citizens of Missouri being shot in our streets in this state and we’re going to put an end to it with whatever forces I have as governor of the state of Missouri. Whether that’s every member of the Highway Patrol, whether that’s every member of the National Guard, I will call them all out to stop the violence,” says Parson.

Brig. Gen. Levon Cumpton, the Adjutant General, says the state has more than 10,000 National Guard soldiers.

The governor, a former Polk County sheriff, says there must be law and order in America for people to survive.

“We all need to take a little more accountability,” he says. “I don’t care whether you’re an elected official, whether you’re an everyday citizen, whether you’re a mom, whether you’re a grandma or whoever you might be. You need to start standing up and protecting one another and not engage and not trying to create chaos and commit criminal activities. They’re really trying to change a cause that definitely needs to be changed. Things need to be done different in society. We need to address issues that the African-American community have, but not through violence – not through what we’re seeing out there on the streets.”

Parson thinks the behavior is organized crime that is different from the 2014 Ferguson riots.

“When all the sudden you’ve seen pallets of bricks show up or pallets of blocks that show up, you’re having a strategy where dumpsters are where you pull them out and you set them on fire, they know to try to burn police cars because it gets more of the media coverage, and their main focus is to try to get to the police stations or the law so they can disrupt the services there. So, they have a plan of how they do sweeps, they have a plan of how they attack police officers,” says Parson.

The FBI and its SWAT team, ATF and Missouri Highway Patrol are also helping on the ground in St. Louis.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri National Guard, Missouri Highway Patrol and FBI helping to patrol St. Louis; curfew in effect (AUDIO)

By

St. Louis’ Public Safety Director has announced that the FBI, ATF, the Missouri National Guard, the Missouri Highway Patrol and other agencies arrived overnight to help patrol St. Louis, and will continue to do so until further notice.

Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards tells reporters that more than 200 people engaged in “persistent criminal activity” overnight. He says four St. Louis police officers were shot, and that a retired officer was killed by a looter.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol logo (courtesy of Patrol Lieutenant Collin Stosberg)

The four officers who were shot have been released from the hospital.

“To the criminals that inflicted crime on our city last night, we have your surveillance pictures,” Edwards says. “And I will use every tool available to me to count every freckle on your face until you have been identified and arrested.”

Edwards says the city also requested the FBI surveillance plane and the FBI swat team, and they also arrived overnight. The St. Louis County swat team is also assisting.

Edwards says his officers are frustrated when fellow officers tarnish their badge, referring to George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. He says his officers joined in solidarity with protesters on Monday afternoon.

“Yesterday evening and throughout the early morning, many of the same protesters that our officers protected turned violent against them,” Edwards tells St. Louis reporters. He says they threw objects at officers and used fireworks against them.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson says has signed an executive order establishing a citywide curfew, after the overnight burning and looting. She says retired officer David Dorn was shot to death last night, outside a looted pawn shop.

Mayor Krewson describes what happened overnight as a riot, adding that it was “a terrible night for St. Louis.”

“What started as a very non-violent and peaceful demonstration and protest ended in looting, shooting, burning and attacks on law enforcement,” Krewson says.

She tells reporters that hundreds of vehicles were going to various locations.

As for the curfew, it takes effect tonight at 9 and goes until 6 a.m. It will continue daily until further notice.

“9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the morning, everybody needs to be off the streets, you need to be at home,” says Krewson.

There are exceptions to the order. They include those traveling to and from work, government employees performing work assignments, the news media and those traveling for medical treatment. The homeless are also exempt.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner also spoke today, saying that while she wants peaceful protesters to continue to make their voices heard, she will use the full power of law to prosecute those who shoot and murder police officers.

Prosecutor Gardner also urged peaceful protesters to help her office “root out those whose actions work directly against justice for all.”

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Protesters hit Jefferson City streets to rally against George Floyd’s death

By

About 2,000 people marched along the streets of Jefferson City Monday evening to protest last week’s police brutality death of George Floyd in Minnesota. Participants of all ages and backgrounds chanted phrases like “No justice, no peace. Prosecute the police.”

Mary Chen of Jefferson City says she was happy to stand shoulder to shoulder with people of all colors in the community.

“I think that the most recent racial injustices have just really tipped the scale,” she says. “I think as a white person, I’m finally starting to get it – that it’s going to take all of us being aggressively involved in this movement for racial justice to happen.”

A young black woman named Ari says this is her first protest, “but this is my community.”

“We will come out here every single day if we have to until I don’t have to fear for my life because of the color of my skin.”

After persuasion by the crowd, some officers and soldiers at the protest took a knee in support of ending racial injustice. Nimrod Chapel, President of the Missouri NAACP, says the move was important.

“I think far too often that our peace officers and people in the military get painted with a broad brush – that they’re just opposed to the humanitarian measures – life-preserving measures like don’t put your knee in people’s necks that we’re talking about here, don’t kill people, be good people. And I think anybody with a heart and a professional consciousness is willing to listen to that and I think that they demonstrated that today.”

Protestors then walked a mile and a half to  Lincoln University – one of Missouri’s historically black colleges. For nine minutes, protesters lay on the ground near the college entrance with their hands behind their backs chanting “I can’t breathe” – just like George Floyd said.

The event was mainly peaceful. As marchers returned to the Capitol, a few tossed water bottles at police cars, two storefront windows along the route were damaged, and there was continual verbal taunting of police.

Most of the gathering dispersed from the Capitol grounds after a being led in a prayer by one of the participants. A few dozen remained to chant and challenge the National Guard and Missouri State Trooper presence that surrounded the statehouse.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri Congressman wants investigation into Minneapolis PD; Kansas City Police hit with frozen water bottles Saturday (AUDIO)

By

Missouri’s senior Democrat on Capitol Hill is condemning the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, saying that systematic racism and excessive force led to Floyd’s death.

U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, briefs reporters at Jamestown Mall in Florissant on May 30, 2020 (photo courtesy of Congressman Clay’s Twitter page)

U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, spoke Saturday at an Urban League food distribution event in Florissant, which is a north St. Louis County suburb.

“That video doesn’t lie, and the whole world is watching,” Clay tells the audience. “George Floyd was not resisting arrest, he was resisting strangulation.”

Former officer Derek Chauvin is charged in Minnesota with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Congressman Clay is calling on the other three officers and a medic to be charged as accessories.

“The medic who made no effort to save his (Floyd’s) life,” says Clay.

Congressman Clay, a senior member of the U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee, is calling on the Justice Department to investigate the Minneapolis Police Department. He wants to see a sweeping consent decree, similar to what happened in Ferguson.

“Unless white America finally sees us and respects us and is willing to mutually recognize our humanity as black people, as much as their own, our country will never heal,” Clay says.

He says the Ferguson consent decree has “totally transformed the local government and the police department” there.

Congressman Clay is extending his condolences to George Floyd’s family.

“It’s clear that he was a beloved man who lived his life for others,” says Clay.

During his remarks at the former Jamestown Mall site, Congressman Clay also spoke directly to what he describes as “my white allies in the progressive movement, who regularly expect black leaders to stand with you to advance your core agenda.”

“Will you stand with us now, will you make a difference in this country and face this evil in its entirety?”, Clay asks.

Florissant is near Ferguson, which was the site of the Michael Brown incident in August 2014.

Brown’s father, Michael Brown Sr., traveled to Minnesota this weekend to show support for the community there. He tells our sister network, the Minnesota News Network, that what’s happening in Minneapolis reminds him of what happened to his son.

18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot during a confrontation with then-Ferguson officer Darren Wilson. The Obama Justice Department cleared the officer of criminal wrongdoing, and a St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict him.

Meantime, things turned violent this weekend in Ferguson. The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reports protesters launched fireworks at officers, smashed windows to Ferguson police headquarters and looted a beauty supply store.

The “Post” reports police deployed tear gas, in response.

Across the state in Kansas City, the Kansas City Police Department says it made 85 arrests Saturday night, after significant damage to businesses on the Plaza.

“Nearly all officers hit with frozen water bottles or rocks. Two officers hospitalized from being struck, one with an injury to the temple and one with a lacerated liver,” Kansas City Police tweeted Sunday.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) has activated the Missouri National Guard, and has signed an executive order declaring that a state of emergency exists in Missouri, due to civil unrest.

The governor says citizens have the right to peacefully assemble and to protest.

“Violence and destruction are not the answers. I support those who are calling for justice and peace. However, a small element has seized on these peaceful demonstrations to commit violent acts that endanger the lives of citizens and bring destruction to our communities,” Governor Parson said in a written statement Saturday night.

Click here to listen to the full five-minute speech from U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, which took place on May 30, 2020 at Jamestown Mall in Florissant. The audio is courtesy of Congressman Clay’s Facebook page:

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Parson activates Missouri National Guard to help with unruly protesters

By

Today, Gov. Mike Parson has signed an executive order declaring a State of Emergency in Missouri due to civil unrest. In a press release, he says the Missouri National Guard and the Missouri Highway Patrol stand ready to support local authorities.

This week’s death of George Floyd has ignited a flurry of protests around the country and in Missouri, including Kansas City, the St. Louis region, Springfield, and Columbia. The African-American man from Minnesota died after a white police officer used a knee to pin Floyd’s neck to the ground for about eight minutes. The officer has been charged with third-degree murder.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of George Floyd. We are also saddened by the acts of violence that have transpired across our nation and state in response to this event. At this time, we are taking a proactive approach to protect Missouri and its people,” Parson says.

In Kansas City, some protesters have been arrested and police have used pepper spray on some individuals. On Twitter, the Kansas City Police Department confirmed officers are using tear gas to keep people off of streets.

In the St. Louis region today, protesters lined the streets in Clayton, University City, and in Ferguson. Some demonstrators blocked traffic on Interstate 70.

“Violence and destruction are not the answers,” says Parson. “I support those who are calling for justice and peace. However, a small element has seized on these peaceful demonstrations to commit violent acts that endanger the lives of citizens and bring destruction to our communities. This violence not only threatens public safety and destroys economic opportunity; it drowns out the voices of the peaceful demonstrators calling for justice and working to improve our nation.”

The order calls the Adjutant General of the State of Missouri, or his designee, to call and order into active service National Guard soldiers as he deems necessary to aid officials on the ground.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri protests continue over the death of Minnesota’s George Floyd

By

Hundreds of protesters have lined streets in Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia, and the St. Louis area this weekend chanting phrases like “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “No justice, no peace”. They have been calling attention to this week’s death of George Floyd, an African-American man in Minneapolis. A white police officer is accused of third-degree murder after pinning Floyd to the ground by pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes.

Photo courtesy of KMBC-TV

The casualty is stirring up the pain felt when 18-year-old Michael Brown, Jr. was shot to death in 2014 by a Ferguson police officer. Brown, an unarmed African-American man, was killed by Darren Wilson, who is white.

Brown’s death led to protests for days on the streets of Ferguson, looting, and vandalism – some of the same acts happening in Minneapolis, Atlanta, and elsewhere during protests. His death also sparked a movement driven to stop unarmed African-Americans from getting killed by law enforcement.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas tells KMBC-TV he wants this weekend’s protesters to work for change in the community between African-Americans and police.

“What we are not out here to do is act a fool, is to have generalized hooliganism, is to do something that will, I think, tarnish not just the life of George Floyd but also to tarnish, I think, what is a wonderful peaceful rally,” he says.

Lucas, who is African-American, spoke with passion about bringing people together – not driving them apart.

“We’re not here to just try to start something that is tangential to what the goal of us is – is to make sure that people can live equally, to make sure that people can walk around feeling safe, to make sure that every black mother in this city has the chance to say ‘I know my son’s going to come back and he’s not going to get shot by somebody on the street, he’s not going to get shot by the police, he’s not going to get messed by somebody in those different areas.’ That’s all I’m asking,” says Lucas. “And that’s all we want today.”

Taylar Johnson Coody spoke with heavy emotion.

“I’m tired of having to wake up and go to social media to see every, I’m sorry, of having to see another black person on the floor. I’m tired of people dying and I’m tired of having to come out here and protest for the people I love and care about,” she tells KMBC.

In Kansas City, some protesters have been arrested and police have used pepper spray on some individuals. On Twitter, the Kansas City Police Department confirmed officers are using tear gas to keep people off of streets.

In the St. Louis region today, protesters lined the streets in Clayton, University City, and in Ferguson. Some demonstrators blocked traffic on Interstate 70.

State Representative Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, spoke during today’s rally.

“This is our moment. Let’s make it right. This is our moment to show the world that we ain’t f***ing around no more,” he says. “Just because we’re mad don’t make us violent. Just because we’re pissed don’t make us terrorists.”

Before an Urban League donation drive today, Missouri Congressman Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, said there should be justice for George Floyd.

“If George Floyd would have been white, would he have died on the street like an animal begging for mercy while he struggled to breathe,” asks Clay. “The three officers who stood by and did absolutely nothing to save his life must be charged as accessories to murder.”

After Brown’s death, Clay helped to create a consent decree between the City of Ferguson and the U.S. Department of Justice to help change policing practices.

Here are scenes from earlier today in southwest Missouri’s Springfield:

In response to the protests, Gov. Mike Parson has declared a state of emergency. He has signed an executive order giving the Missouri Adjutant General or his designee the power to activate National Guard soldiers if necessary. In a press release, Parson says the Missouri National Guard and the Missouri Highway Patrol stand ready to support local authorities.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of George Floyd. We are also saddened by the acts of violence that have transpired across our nation and state in response to this event. At this time, we are taking a proactive approach to protect Missouri and its people,” the governor says. “Citizens have the right to peacefully assemble and protest, and the State of Missouri is committed to protecting the lawful exercise of these rights.”

Parson says despite the many peaceful assemblies, other events have created conditions of distress and hazards to the safety, welfare, and property of residents and visitors that are beyond the capacities of local authorities.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Coronavirus testing underway among Missouri prison workers and inmates

By

The state has begun coronavirus surveillance testing among Missouri’s prison workers and inmates. During Tuesday’s press conference with Gov. Parson in Jefferson City, Department of Corrections Director Anne Precythe says Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston and South-Central Correctional Center in Licking are in the first phase.

Coronavirus testing underway among Missouri prison workers and inmates

“In order to resume some sense of normalcy in Corrections, which includes things like inmate transfers and family visitation, it is incumbent upon us to participate in sentinel testing,” says Precythe. “This is important to both the governor and me. We now have the necessary number of supplies to be able to meet the needs for testing our entire Division of Adult Institutions staff and offender population, which is approximately 32,000 people.”

The women’s prison in northwest Missouri’s Chillicothe and Algoa Correctional Center in Jefferson City will be in phase two.

Forty-five inmates and 27 workers, mostly at Southeast Correctional Center, have tested positive for the coronavirus. One inmate previously at the Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in St. Joseph died at a Kansas City hospital from complications brought on by COVID-19.

The state has 22 adult prisons. Intake centers are at the prisons in southeast Missouri’s Bonne Terre, mid-Missouri’s Fulton, northwest Missouri’s St. Joseph and northeast Missouri’s Vandalia for women. Precythe says the department will refine its method along the way to continue testing at other prisons.

“This pandemic has repeatedly caused us to say ‘We don’t know what we don’t know’. But the only way to know for sure is to do testing,” says Precythe. “I want staff to know with confidence if they are negative and I believe this approach will begin to give people confidence as they not only come to work but as they go home to their families.”

The agency has not mapped out a timeline to complete testing within all prisons. DOC spokesperson Karen Pojmann tells Missourinet the details are still being worked out and will be developed based upon how things go in the initial phases.

Missouri National Guard medics are helping with the testing.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Missouri National Guard helps to get food to K-12 students

By

The Missouri National Guard and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) are working together to help local K-12 schools in feeding students. Nearly 200 soldiers will aid communities in handing out and/or delivering food to students for the next several weeks.

Missouri National Guard helps to get food to K-12 students

The locations getting assistance from the National Guard chose to participate in the partnership for a variety of reasons. Many locations are small, rural school districts where workforce capacity issues are a growing concern amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Feeding students is one of the many essential supports that our local schools and their staff members are continuing to provide during this period of distance learning,” Commissioner of Education Margie Vandeven says in a press release.

The Missouri National Guard is currently doing or preparing for various missions in support of state and local partners.

“Assisting DESE with meal distribution to ensure Missouri children receive the nutritional meals they need is another great example of the enduring partnerships and strong teams we’re building during these challenging times,” says Col. Denise Wilkinson, Commander of 70th Troop Command.

Districts/schools receiving National Guard help are:

• Cape Girardeau 63 – Cape Girardeau, MO
• Hickman Mills C-1 – Kansas City, MO
• KIPP – St. Louis, MO
• Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy – Kansas City, MO
• Marshall – Marshall, MO
• North St. Francois Co. R-I – Bonne Terre, MO
• Osage County R-II – Linn, MO
• Portageville – Portageville, MO
• Richland R-I – Essex, MO
• Warren County R-III – Warrenton, MO
• Wright City R-II – Wright City, MO

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

State creates first alternative hospital, PPE access still a problem, Parson announces in April 8 briefing (VIDEO)

By

Missouri’s coronavirus count is 3,327 cases today.

Today’s COVID-19 press briefing focused on a new alternative hospital to be set up in Florrisant, near St. Louis. Governor Mike Parson reiterated the struggle to get enough personal protective equipment (PPE’s).

WATCH FULL PRESS CONFERENCE: