“How are you doing tonight, officers?” a young woman among a group of four asked two police officers while walking down Maryland Avenue in the Central West End Friday night.
“We’re just fine. And yourself?” one officer replied.
“Too bad. We were hoping you were having a horrible night,” the woman said.
Turns out, the women were protestors. They were making their way towards Euclid and Maryland, where a group of a thousand was gathered to continue voicing their outrage at the acquittal of former St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer Jason Stockley.
“We’re doing great. Making tons of money,” the officer said back. “We’re making $60 an hour because of your dumb [expletive]. That’s more money than you’ll ever make in your [expletive] life.”
By the time he finished his statement, the women had already made their way to the group of demonstrators, who had been protesting non-stop for 12 hours. “Black lives matter,” they shouted in sync with the masses as they headed in the intersection.
Even before the verdict was announced, the protest community promised to disrupt. It was a point they reiterated when they originally gathered an hour after it was made public that Judge Timothy Wilson found Stockley not guilty of the first-degree murder of Anthony Lamar Smith.
“If we don’t get no justice, y’all don’t get no peace,” the crowd chanted in front of St. Louis police headquarters after marching from Tucker and Market Friday morning – officially kicking off the protests that have yet to subside.
They demonstrated downtown all afternoon before moving to the Central West End at 7 p.m.
“When black lives are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back,” they said as they marched near Kingshighway and Forest Park Parkway.
The protests culminated a few hours later at the home of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson. When objects flew from the crowd toward Krewson’s home, police repeated, “This is now an unlawful assembly, those who fail to disperse will be subject to arrest.”
It’s a phrase that those who were in Ferguson have committed to memory. Just like in Ferguson, tear gas followed. There were more arrests on top of the 13 that had taken place earlier in the day. A total of 32 arrests were made, according to The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s official Twitter account. They also reported that 11 officers were injured during the unrest, eight from the city, two from the county and one state trooper, none life-threatening.
Property was damaged – including the St. Louis Public Library’s Schlafly Branch and Culpepper’s restaurant, in addition to the mayor’s home.
A reliable source confirmed that disruptive elements from out of town traveled to St. Louis for the Stockley verdict, as expected, and are joining protest actions.
Saturday morning, protesters started demonstrating exactly 24 hours from the moment they started. They have completed five direct actions since then. A group met at Heman Park in University City, before heading to West County Mall to “shut it down.”
“White silence is violence,” protesters chanted. The crowd, estimated at 200, filed through the mall holding a host of different signs, including the black and white “Black Lives Matter” that has been a constant since Ferguson.
They then headed to Chesterfield Mall – where they still are at the time of this report.
The effects of their promised disruption rippled through the region. The St. Louis Symphony canceled their Friday presentation of “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” Shakespeare Festival St. Louis canceled its Friday and Saturday night showings of Shakespeare in the Streets, which was to be held outdoors in front of the St. Louis Public Library’s Central Branch. Their production of “Blow, Winds” will resume for Sunday, according to a statement from Shakespeare Festival St. Louis.
This morning, rock band U2 announced that they decided to cancel their much-anticipated “The Joshua Tree” tour scheduled for tonight at The Dome at America’s Center.
“We have been informed by the St. Louis Police Department that they are not in a position to provide the standard protection for our audience as would be expected for an event of this size,” U2 said in a statement. “We have also been informed that local crowd security personnel would not be at full capacity.”
U2’s lead singer Bono, who is known for his social activism, posted a personal note about the cancellation.
“Deeply saddened at what has happened in St. Louis and having to cancel our show tonight,” Bono said on Instagram. “I found myself reading Dr. King’s speech from the National Cathedral and asking myself, ‘is this 1968 or 2017?”
In the post, Bono included an excerpt from the speech.
“Human progress never rolls in with the wheels of inevitability,” King’s quote on Bono’s page reads. “We are coming to ask America to be true to the huge promissory note that it signed years ago. And we are coming to engage in dramatic nonviolent action, to call attention to the gulf between promise and fulfilment; to make the invisible visible.”
