Last night, a few dozen protestors crashed the Mayor’s Mardi Gras Ball at St. Louis City Hall – frustrated by Mayor Francis Slay’s lack of accountability regarding the killings of black males by St. Louis police. They say Mayor Slay has mocked the protest movement and continues to uphold business as usual.
Their attempts to make it inside the ticketed black-tie gala were foiled by a heavy police presence. Behind police barricades, protestors unfurled a makeshift red carpet with chalk outlines representing victims of police violence as well as a large white banner of the city’s skyline that read, “Racism lives here.”
“Racism in St. Louis must stop today,” Bishop Derrick Robinson shouted into a bullhorn. “You cannot come to a ball and be comfortable, if racism is still existing in our city.”
Protestors walked the red carpet chanting, “Hands Up! Don’t shoot!” and “No justice! No peace!” Cachet Currie silently stood on a sidewalk with an upraised fist that spoke volumes – a symbol, she said, that “Black Lives Matter” and that protestors will continue to fight back.
“Would you like to take a picture with the piñata of brutality?” protest organizer Elizabeth Vega asked arriving revelers, referring to a decorated pink pig.
Revelers had looks of confusion, discomfort, and annoyance on their faces. As they exited their vehicles, they averted their eyes and dashed past vocal protestors. Turning a blind eye is failing to acknowledge that a problem exists, Currie said.
Some of the people ignoring protestors were black and looked equally annoyed with the protest. A protestor associated with the activist group Tribe X who wishes not to be identified said there is such a thing as “black privilege.”
“You made it out,” she said. “You have a responsibility to help the ones that didn’t. You can’t turn a blind eye to it.”
Protestors attempted to distribute fliers to revelers as they made their way inside City Hall. One woman even going as far as to place fliers on the windshields of vehicles waiting for valet service. The flier contained a list of eight demands next to a caricature of a festive Mayor Slay wearing a jester’s hat and beads bearing the names of those killed by police.
It has been a little more than a week since the death of LeDarius Williams who joins Issac Holmes, VonDeritt Myers Jr., and Kajieme Powell – all fatally shot by St. Louis police. Protestors say their deaths highlight broader policing and racial issues impacting the entire region, which is evident by the deaths of Antonio Martin and Michael Brown Jr.
Protestors demand that Mayor Slay denounce and terminate police officers Jason Flanery and Randy Hayes for their involvement in the deaths of Myers and Powell. They base their demand on racial and homophobic remarks as well as posts depicting violence against animals the officers made on their respective social media accounts.
They also demand a meeting with Mayor Slay to discuss racial inequities in St. Louis and an end to hot-spot policing, which they say is nothing more than racial profiling. Officers on patrol in South St. Louis City pursued Williams after they said he was exhibiting suspicious behavior.
Hot-spot policing is the brainchild of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Sam Dotson and is his way of curtailing crime by saturating targeted areas with police officers. On January 26, he deployed additional officers to Downtown, Old North St. Louis, St. Louis Place and Carr Square neighborhoods.
A jovial Dotson greeted revelers and posed for photos with two female fire dancers while he simultaneously monitored and ignored protestors’ attempts to get his attention.
“We are not the enemy,” the Tribe X protestor said.
She went on to say that St. Louis, which she described as the new Selma, cannot compete as a progressive city if it remains divided. Protestors say that in order for the city to move forward, the city must confront and address its issues.
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