St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner on Monday filed what she called an unprecedented federal civil rights lawsuit, accusing the city, the local
police union and others of a coordinated and racist conspiracy aimed at forcing her out of office.
Gardner, the city's elected prosecutor, also accused “entrenched interests” of intentionally impeding her efforts to reform racist practices that have led to a loss of trust in the criminal justice system.
The lawsuit alleges civil rights violations as well as violations of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.