Police accountability

The police department says it’s investigating the officer’s use of force but declined to identify the officer.

A week after the Minneapolis jury’s verdict, Black people in the St. Louis region are struggling to reconcile a brief moment of relief with painful reminders that police continue to use deadly force against Black people. They’re also seeking ways to heal from generational trauma — through therapy, yoga, meditation and spending time outdoors.

St. Louis-area activists are hopeful that a Minneapolis jury will find former officer Derek Chauvin guilty in the death of George Floyd last spring. But community leaders say they're bracing for the verdict. Emotions are high in St. Louis and across the nation because juries often acquit white officers charged with killing Black people.

“Hopefully we are doing our ancestors proud in the work that we are doing here,” state Rep. LaToya Greenwood said.

In 2014, after Michael Brown Jr. was killed by a police officer, Aloni Benson took to the streets with other protesters.But the Berkeley native found…