Justice Department Touts Hundreds of Guns, Drug Arrests as St. Louis Surge Ends: "Violence Is Not Inevitable"

"Show Me Justice" Operation Yields 435 Arrests, 80 Kilograms of Drugs and 166 Illegal Firearms as Federal Agents Surged into St. Louis for Months

Justice Department arrests hundreds across St. Louis: 'Violence not inevitable'

The Justice Department announced hundreds of arrests Thursday as part of Operation Show Me Justice in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Justice Department announced hundreds of arrests in St. Louis, Missouri, on Thursday as part of its Operation Me Justice.

Beginning in August, the operation involved members of the US Marshals Service, ATF, DEA and the St. Louis Police Department, all of whom stepped up their efforts to target gun, drug and other crimes in the city.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter announced the end of the months-long operation alongside Sen. Eric Schmidt, R-Mo.

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"Through Operation Show Me Justice, teams arrested 435 people for drug offenses, firearms offenses and other crimes. That includes 412 outstanding warrants. Most of these people had outstanding warrants for their arrest. Many of them had multiple," McCotter told reporters at a news conference Thursday.

McCotter said the operation also seized 80 kilos of narcotics, 166 illegal firearms, six machine gun conversion devices and more than $1 million in currency.

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McCotter went on to call on mayors, city councils and state officials across the country to contact federal officials to do similar operations in their jurisdictions.

"The mission here is based on a simple premise, which is that we don't have to accept violent crime. It's not something you shrug your shoulders at. It's not a fact of life in a city or anywhere else," McCotter said.

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He added: "I want to say something to all the mayors, city councils, governors, police chiefs who are there now: violence is not inevitable. We want to partner with you. We want to cooperate with you. We want to help you."

So far, federal authorities have also partnered with state and local law enforcement in Washington, D.C. and Memphis to conduct similar operations.

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Thursday's news conference comes nearly a week after federal and state authorities in California launched a massive operation targeting Los Angeles' notorious Skid Row neighborhood.

In Operation Save Skid Row, federal and city officials executed 28 arrest warrants and 44 search warrants in an effort to dismantle drug distribution networks in the notorious neighborhood.

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More than 100 law enforcement vehicles were involved in the operation, which was aimed at arresting members of multiple gangs, including the Main Street Crips, Grape Street/Raymond Avenue Crips and the Pueblo Bishop Bloods.

"We're not going to have any more open-air drug markets in the United States, let alone Skid Row," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Asley said at a press conference. "And that's the reason you see so many homeless people who are having psychotic episodes, they're not doing well, they're not looking for help, it's because you have people, like the drug dealers we're arresting today, keeping them addicted and taking money from their public assistance to pay for their drugs."

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