St. Louis circuit attorney alleges racist conspiracy by city

The first black woman elected as circuit attorney in the city of St. Louis is taking racial tensions, specifically between her office and the police department, to federal court.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported Monday that Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging a racist conspiracy to stop her from doing her job.

Gardner is suing the city of St. Louis; the St. Louis Police Officers Association and others including private attorneys appointed as special prosecutors to investigate her office’s handling of the investigation of former Gov. Eric Greitens.

The lawsuit was filed on Gardner’s behalf by three outside law firms from St. Louis, Washington and New York.

In a statement, a spokesman for the mayor’s office called Gardner’s lawsuit “meritless”.