St. Louis police oversight board member has been arrested at Ferguson protest

One of the individuals charged with causing damage to a Ferguson Police Department fence just before a police officer suffered critical injuries is an uncommitted Missouri alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention next week as well as a member of the St. Louis Police Department’s Civilian Oversight Board. First-degree property damage is the felony that Keith Rose faces. On a $500 bond, he is allowed to go, and his next court date is August 22. Rose informed the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he will contest the charge despite not having a counsel listed.

“I am prepared to defend myself against this accusation, but I am highly confident that the charge against me will be dropped once the prosecution reviews all of the evidence,” Rose stated. On Friday, hundreds of people gathered in Ferguson to commemorate Michael Brown’s death that occurred ten years ago. There were only a dozen protestors left as midnight drew near, and some of them started to shake and break a fence outside the police station.

Among the officers who went out to make arrests was Officer Travis Brown. The video, which was made public by the police on Tuesday, showed a single suspect—28-year-old Elijah Gantt of East St. Louis, Illinois—charging Travis Brown on a sidewalk and throwing him backward. Brown can be seen in the footage landing hard and hitting the pavement with his head.

Brown has a potentially fatal brain injury, according to the police, and is currently in critical condition at the hospital. Gantt is accused with a number of crimes, including assault. Rose was one of four demonstrators who were accused of causing property damage. Rose was appointed in the beginning of 2024 to the city police oversight board. The board hears complaints made against police personnel in St. Louis.

“We no longer feel that Mr. Rose can be seen as neutral and unbiased on matters relating to the oversight of the St. Louis City Police Department as a result of the charges filed against him in this matter,” the letter, which was signed by a number of St. Louis aldermanic board members, stated.

According to a statement, the Missouri Democratic Party “condemns the violence” that caused Travis Brown’s injuries. “The Missouri Democratic Party started to look into the matter and is in talks regarding the appropriate next steps upon learning of the charges against uncommitted alternate Keith Rose,” the statement said. Ferguson became identified with the nationwide Black Lives Matter movement following the August 9, 2014, death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black man, in the St. Louis suburb at the hands of Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson. Michael Brown is not related to the Black man Travis Brown.

Wilson resigned in November 2014 after three different investigations revealed no evidence to support a criminal case against him. However, months of frequently violent protests followed Michael Brown’s death. It also sparked an inquiry by the US Department of Justice, which mandated anti-discrimination adjustments to Ferguson’s policing and legal system. Travis Brown, 36, is a father of two young kids and the son of a retired St. Louis city police officer. Prior to joining the Ferguson department in, he spent 11 years as an officer with the St. Louis County Police Department.