ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Democratic Candidate for Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District Cort VanOstran has been seen raising money with Pi Pizzeria owner Chris Sommers.
Sommers, along with Ambassador Kevin F. O’Malley and Brendan O’Malley hosted an event on Monday at the Pi Pizzeria in Downtown St. Louis in support of VanOstran.
Many individuals, including Justin Hill, are upset with this sponsorship because of Sommers’ “anti-cop behavior”.
Hill tweeted: “Do you want a US Rep who takes money from cop haters?”
In his tweet, Hill included a video that showed headlines about Sommers and his attitude towards St. Louis Police: “Pi Pizzeria owner draws ire of local police union over ‘anti-cop’ tweets” from Fox 2, “St. Louis businessman’s criticism of police spurs backlash” from AP News and “St. Louis restaurant owner gave water to protestors, ripped police. And now cops are fighting back.” from TheBlaze.
Sommers began getting harassed when he began posting comments on social media about the St. Louis Police following events that took place in the Central West End in September 2017 when it was announced that Jason Stockley would not be convicted for the fatal shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith.
“Cort VanOstran stands with a radical anti-police donor who calls St. Louis police Nazis, racist and corrupt,” Wagner spokesman Brecht Mulvihill said. “Ann Wagner stands with our first responders, which is why local St. Louis police and firefighters have endorsed her campaign.”
Hill’s tweet also included screenshots of a tweet from Sommers and Versha Sharma showing that Sommers was supporting the protestors and not the police.
The end of Hill’s clip shows VanOstran walking to his car while Hill says, “Chris Sommers disrespects our men in blue. He wants them to be fired, he calls them obnoxious. Why are you taking their money?”
VanOstran had no comment to share to the video and got into his car without acknowledging Hill or his questions.
“Cort has the highest respect for our law enforcement officers,” VanOstran Campaign Manager Claire Botnick said. “They have the toughest jobs and he will always have their backs. Cort’s dad was a flight paramedic and he knows the risks that our police and first responders take every day. People in this district know that about and are tired of the GOP’s constant attempts to sow division.”