Biography
Elijah Gantt is a St. Louis–area minister who was arrested on August 9, 2024, during protests outside the Ferguson Police Department on the tenth anniversary of the police killing of Michael Brown. Prosecutors charged him with first-degree assault, resisting arrest, first-degree property damage, and two counts of fourth-degree assault, accusing him of charging a Ferguson officer who suffered a serious head injury during the demonstration. Gantt, whom supporters describe as a young man who turned his life around through the church, was held on a $500,000 cash-only bond with an order to stay 1,500 feet from the Ferguson Police Department. His case, arising from the anniversary protests, remains pending; supporters and clergy have rallied for a reduction of his bond and a fair hearing.