In October 2014, I asked for all the email communications between St. Louis police (metro and county) and the FBI during the first chapter of the Ferguson uprising. A year and a half later, St. Louis metro police have acknowledged that they have documents pertaining to my request, but that it will cost $3,667 to process altogether.

From today’s date, 5/3/16, I have only 19 days to raise the money, or STLPD “will consider the matter closed.” This is an arbitrary deadline, but it’s also a revealing one: It means that they don’t want whatever their holding to be released to the world. Past reports detailing police surveillance and management of Ferguson-related unrest illustrated how closely local, state, and federal forces worked together to counter what they perceived as insurgent forces, in ways that violated Constitutional protections of free speech and assembly.

I know it’s a long shot, but I’m asking you to help me out however you can to cover the costs of this request. I’d rather not fork over thousands of dollars to STLPD, but if that’s what needs to happen, it’s worth a try.

Thanks, Aaron Cantú