Heather DeMian, a well-known live streamer, said she thought Rossomanno “threatens chemical munitions a little too fast. He’s a little too quick with mace sometimes. But I’ve seen him be friendly with protesters. I think it depends on the situation. I’ve also seen him go off.”

Rossomanno’s group has described itself as hoping to “instill in our first line of defense a combat/warrior mindset complete with the skills necessary to provide our citizenry with a level of security they can (trust.)” And it has written that every police department in the country needs to recognize that riot control training is in its future.

On the ground

Is Rossomanno’s dual role in St. Louis a conflict? David Klinger, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said not necessarily.

“It all depends on if the doctrines that they are teaching in their classes are consistent with the doctrines that American police have vis-à-vis the constitutional protections of protesters,” he said. “If he is giving a fourth dispersal order, it sounds like there is a more than appropriate patience to ensure that people understand the order, to ensure the avenues of egress are identified and so forth.”