ST. LOUIS – The widow of retired St. Louis police captain David Dorn, killed during a 2020 protest, calls for tougher penalties around violent protests in wake of a Ferguson officer’s injury last week.

Officer Travis Brown was hurt during a protest on Aug. 9 outside the Ferguson police headquarters while a crowd marked the 10th anniversary of the killing of Michael Brown Jr., whose death became part of a national push to reform policing and helped fuel the Black Lives Matter movement.

Four years earlier, Ann Dorn lost her husband while he responded a burglar alarm at a friend’s business, which followed unrest in St. Louis after the death of George Floyd. Looters broke into the store overnight and David was fatally wounded when he confronted them.

In a FOX News digital report published Friday, Ann Dorn acknowledged that people have the right to protest, but insisted that violent actions amid protests must be met with serious consequences.

“It needs to be handled accordingly, that if you’re going to destroy property and hurt people, it’s not going to be just another charge. There’s going to be a higher penalty for that because a protest is your First Amendment right. You can do that. But once you step over the line to violence, it’s uncalled for,” said Dorn via FOX News.

Travis Brown is in critical condition with a serious a brain injury he suffered while responding to the protest. The Ferguson Police Department shared videos earlier this week that allegedly show a suspect charging at Officer Brown and forcing him to the ground on the sidewalk.

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Ferguson Police Chief Troy Doyle said that the August 9 protest began peacefully and police blocked off parts of a street in anticipation. Throughout the night, the peaceful protest became agitated as individuals began shaking a police station security gate late Friday evening. Brown and others were dispatched as part of an arrest team to detain protesters who broke the police station security gate.

Dorn, also a retired sergeant, condemned the violence from the Aug. 9 protest.

“The people who start these, a protest is one thing, but when it turns violent, those people need to be looked at as either terrorists or be charged with rioting, not just assault, destruction of property.”

The suspect accused in Officer Brown’s injury, 28-year-old Elijah Gantt of East St. Louis, has been charged with first-degree assault and fourth-degree assault amid the investigation.

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