St. Louis, MO – After a week of protests and rioting following the acquittal of former officer Jason Stockley in the 2011 shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith, the city of St. Louis has passed a resolution to honor the dead drug dealer.

St. Louis Alderman John Collins-Muhammad, who called for the protests after Stockley’s acquittal, invited Smith’s parents to city hall Friday as he introduced the resolution, according to KMOV.

“Whereas Anthony Lamar Smith lost his life on December 20th, 2011, his death has sparked a universal cry for justice and accountability,” Collins-Muhammad said at city hall. “Now therefore, be it resolved by the Board of Aldermen, that we pause to remember Anthony Lamar Smith.”

Collins-Muhammad then handed the resolution to Smith’s parents and the measure passed by voice acclamation.

KMOV reported that, “Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed told Smith’s parents that their son’s death would spark change in the criminal justice system, both in St. Louis and in the United States as a whole.”

However no change to the criminal justice system would have resulted in a different verdict for Stockley.

“This Court, in conscience, cannot say that the State has proven every element of murder beyond a reasonable doubt, or that the State has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense,” Judge Wilson wrote in his ruling.

There is only one way that Stockley could have ever been convicted, and that would be if the burden of proof had been lower.

Stockley may have been convicted if the ruling was based on a preponderance of evidence, which is the burden of proof required in civil cases. This basically means that the weight of the evidence makes it more likely than not that their claim is correct.

However, nobody is actually advocating for lowering the burden of proof in criminal cases, and for good reason. If the standard were lowered, it would result in a massive increase in convictions, including innocent people being convicted.

If we can’t lower the burden of proof in criminal cases, then really there’s no change that can be made to increase the conviction rate of officers who fatally shoot drug dealers. And that means that all of this protesting for change won’t give the protesters the “justice” that they’re calling for; it’s just whining.

Much like the crybabies who took to the streets to protest Donald Trump winning the presidential election, they’re protesting something that can’t be changed.

It’s a giant temper-tantrum, and the people who live in St. Louis are the ones who will have to pay for it.