'I did nothing wrong': AK-toting, West Point graduate cop whose acquittal for murdering black suspect sparked two days of protests in St Louis speaks out
By James Wilkinson
Daily Mail
September 17, 2017
The cop whose acquittal on Friday over the 2011 shooting of a black man has led to massive protests in St Louis says he has nothing to apologize for.
Jason Stockley, now 36, shot Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, on December 20, 2011 after a drug deal bust spiraled into a car chase.
Despite concerns over Stockley taking his personal AK-47 on duty that night and remarking that he was 'going to kill this motherfucker' during the chase, he was found not guilty of first-degree murder on Friday, leading to an outcry.
But he told the St Louis Post-Dispatch that their anger is misplaced, and said he was speaking out 'Because I did nothing wrong. If you’re telling the truth and you’ve been wrongly accused, you should shout it from a mountaintop.'
Because I did nothing wrong. If you’re telling the truth and you’ve been wrongly accused, you should shout it from a mountaintop.
Stockley's claim that he would 'kill' Smith during the pursuit - which was captured by his car's dashcam footage - had seemed to many like incriminating evidence.
But in Friday's ruling, St Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson said that because the other remarks made before and after that comment were inaudible, it lacked context.
Stockley himself told the Post-Dispatch that he didn't recall making the remark.
As for carrying an AK-47 - modified with a pistol grip and drum magazine - and 100 rounds of ammunition in his car, Stockley is unrepentant.
He says he started packing the powerful 'pistol' after the streets became too dangerous, and said that while he may have broken the rules, he didn't do anything wrong.
'I used it as a deterrent, and I believed it was better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it,' he said.
'I accept full responsibility for violating the rules. But it's not a moral crime. It's a rule violation.'
He also denies the claim made by prosecutors that his swift entry into Smith's car was to plant the weapon that would justify killing the young man.
Wilson said there was no evidence the gun had been planted, and that it was reasonable for Stockley to think Smith might fire on him.
Stockley said he already knew what the gun looked like and wanted to make sure Smith hadn't thrown it out of the window, and that the only thing he would do differently is 'take the day off.'
'I don’t know how changing any number of my actions that day would have changed the outcome,' he said.
He does acknowledge that the video doesn't put the killing in an entirely favorable light, but says that's common to every piece of dashcam video.
'Every resisting [arrest] looks bad, it never looks good,' he said. 'But you have to separate the optics from the facts.'
Those optics have led to two nights of protests in St Louis - protests that led to 32 people being arrested on Friday, as well as several police officers being hurt.
And on Saturday a day-long peaceful protest was followed by violence late that night as demonstrators smashed windows and threw rocks at police officers.
At least six were arrested in that incident in University City, which also saw pepper spray being used on rioters.
Stockley - who had served a tour in Iraq before becoming a cop five years before the shooting, and is now working for an oil company in Houston - says anger against him from Smith's family, friends and supporters is misplaced.
'I can feel for and I understand what the family is going through, and I know everyone wants someone to blame, but I'm just not the guy,' he said.
He added that 'My main concern now is for the first responders, the people just trying to go to work and the protesters. I don't want anyone to be hurt in any way over this.'
On Friday at least 10 police were hurt, including one who had his jaw broken.
For Stockley, the shooting has had a profound effect on his day-to-day living.
'My life has been in turmoil for some time,' he said. 'I've been in a holding pattern. I haven't been able to be with my family. … I'm trying my best not to let this dictate my life.'
And while his six-year court case is finally done, he says he's still not free.
'It feels like a burden has been lifted, but the burden of having to kill someone never really lifts,' he said.
'The taking of someone's life is the most significant thing one can do, and it's not done lightly.'
He added: 'The decision to use force could be the most important decision you'll ever make because it could be your last. And regardless of what happens, nobody wins.'
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